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Masterclass with Meg Ryan: Life should be lived so that art is inevitable

Actress Meg Ryan, winner of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival, held a Masterclass at the Festival Center (Bosnian Cultural Center) on Tuesday, August 20, moderated by BiH director, Oscar® winner Danis Tanović.

The talk was accompanied by clips from the acclaimed films WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, IN THE CUT and WHAT HAPPENS LATER. Meg Ryan has noted that it is unusual to see inserts from her own films on the big screen, since she is not used to watching the productions she starred in when the process is over.

Asked about her film beginnings, Ryan reveals that she entered the world of acting during her journalism studies, when she went to auditions to see if she would be able to finance her student life. The actress does not hide that it took her a long time to get used to public performances, which she had a problem with as a child. As she is not a professional actress, she had to learn everything from scratch.

"When I started with the series, I didn't know how to remember the lines, how to stand on the line, etc. But now when I come back, I realize that I had beginner's problems, which I now perceive as a very valuable thing in my formation as an actress," she evaluates. Ryan.

The actress recalled significant collaborations with directors and actors, stating that she learned something new from each collaborator. At the beginning of her career, collaborations with directors who gave simple instructions meant a lot to her. He remembers working with Nora Efron with particular pleasure, since this director also wrote the scripts for the films he was working on. Ryan said that Efron created an atmosphere on the set in which the participants of the process felt like they were at a party, which, in her opinion, made a difference in the way they worked and the product they received. She is particularly interested in the character of director Jane Campion, in whom she finds the prototype of a rebel.

Summarizing the experiences of working with directors, she concluded that the relationship between the director and the actors on the set is crucial and that within it a lot is conveyed from the relationship with parental figures.

"That's something I've noticed over time, actors project relationships with their own parents or with authority onto directors. If you're not worthy of respect, then you have difficulties with actors," the actress notes.

Part of the conversation was devoted to projects in which Meg Ryan tried herself as an actress and director. Eight years passed between the productions she directed. She worked on her first project as a director during the Covid-19 pandemic. She initially planned not to act in the movie WHAT HAPPENS LATER, but she realized that she has a lot of fun acting in the movie she is directing. In recent years, she experimented with roles in the film industry, which made her happy, because she realized that she likes to be in the atmosphere of storytelling.

A Hollywood star known for his versatility and natural charm in every role he plays, Ryan will present a special screening of his hit 1998 romantic comedy YOU’VE  GOT MAIL tonight at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema. The famous actress will greet the audience at the same place where this film was shown 25 years ago, at the 5th Sarajevo Film Festival, in 1999.