Meg Ryan was one of the IT actresses in the 1990s and early 2000s. Her career kicked off when she starred in 1986’s Top Gun and really soared after When Harry Met Sally in 1989. She made so many romantic comedies in the following decade that she was dubbed “America’s Sweetheart” by the press. In 2015, Meg directed her first movie, Ithaca, which she also starred in, and then promptly took an eight-year, self-imposed break from Hollywood. Meg’s break is over now, though! She’s starring in a new rom-com called What Happens Later with David Duchovny, which she also directed and co-wrote. So why did Meg take a Hollywood hiatus? Turns out she wanted to explore other aspects of her life.

“I took a giant break because I felt like there’s just so many other parts of my experience as a human being I wanted to develop,” she says, including her role as mom to her two kids, Jack, 31, with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and Daisy, 18, whom she adopted in 2006.

“It’s nice to think of it as a job and not a lifestyle. And that is a great way of navigating it for me,” she says.

Now — eight years after her last film, her 2015 directorial debut, Ithaca — Ryan is finally back on the big screen. She stars in, directed and cowrote the new rom-com What Happens Later, about ex-lovers snowed in together overnight at a regional airport. (The film received an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA allowing publicity during the strike.)

“It came to me during lockdown,” she says. “The essence of it is these two people who are stuck together. I just love that idea that we’re held in a space, even if it feels conflicted, maybe for reasons that heal them.”

Ryan, who stars alongside David Duchovny, calls the entire production “magical. It’s a little roller-coaster ride between these two people, and it asks the question in a way: Will they or won’t they end up together? These are people who broke one another’s hearts way back when. And I think what they gained is that they have gratitude for that.”

Does she now believe everything happens for a reason? Ryan’s thoughts turn to the late Nora Ephron, who wrote and directed many of her classic rom-coms. “In retrospect I feel it’s true, yeah,” she says. “The movies I did with Nora had an operative thing about kismet, like destiny and fate. And there’s something really comforting about that.”

[From People]

I wanted to snark on her statement that “It’s nice to think of [acting] as a job and not a lifestyle,” but honestly, I think that’s a healthy attitude to have about a lot of jobs. In America, our culture tends to tie so much worth and identity into what we do that we can sometimes forget who we are. We are a live-to-work country and, when having healthcare is tied to our employment, we are also a work-to-live society. I’m jealous that Meg was able to afford to take eight years off to be a mom and discover herself and hope that she recognizes how fortunate she is. I’m also always here for a good quote about destiny and fate, lol. (Shoutout to Kismet for having her name in Meg Ryan’s mouth!)

What Happens Later will be in theaters on November 3, and honestly, I’ll probably go see it. I like Ryan and Duchovny and while, yes, I know that most rom coms are problematic in that they play into dated sexist tropes, I’m still really looking forward to this one. I like that it centers around Boomer-aged actors and adjusts the romantic connection for their current age/place in life. We’re about to head into the Hallmark holiday movie season, which will be filled with mid-talented yet very hot young actors doing their meet cute thang, so gimme a Mulder/Sally rom com, baby.

Photos credit: affinitypicture/Backgrid, Avalon.red and People via Twitter