Meg Ryan

Ryan was working steadily before anyone described her as a phenomenon: a sitcom apprenticeship on Charles in Charge, an early horror sequel, a small part in Rich and Famous, then Carole in Top Gun and a run of late-1980s thrillers including D.O.A. and The Presidio. When Harry Met Sally in 1989 changed the scale of the career completely, and for the next ten years she was one of the most bankable stars in America and the defining face of the romantic comedy.

The reason is that the comedy is technical. Sally is a difficult, controlling woman, and Ryan plays her without asking the audience for sympathy, which is why the diner scene everybody can quote is funny rather than smug. She is exceptionally good at being watched while thinking, and Nora Ephron built two more films on that: Sleepless in Seattle, where she spends most of the running time alone with a decision, and You've Got Mail. Joe Versus the Volcano, the strangest of the three she made with Tom Hanks, has her playing three different women and is much better than its reputation.

She also spent the 1990s trying to get out from under the label, with real success. Courage Under Fire, When a Man Loves a Woman as an alcoholic mother, Pamela Courson in The Doors, and finally In the Cut, which broke the image on purpose. Since then she has moved behind the camera, directing Ithaca and What Happens Later, starring in both.