| Rolling Stone, Jan 25, 2001: Sizzle to Fizzle: Crowe and Ryan Split Their love affair was a case of life imitating . . . well, if not art, then at least a major motion picture. While they fell for each other in "Proof of Life" - even as he negotiated to free her husband from South American guerrillas - Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan became an item offscreen, her nine-year marriage to Dennis Quaid notwithstanding. "They were fantastic together," "Proof" director Taylor Hackford told "Us" weekly last December. "They didn't know each other before, and then kaboom. That's how relationships are formed, and hopefully it'll last forever." But Australia's gladiator and America's sweetheart couldn't make it last. More than half a year after their romance went public, Crowe, 36, and Ryan, 39, are through. Signs of strife between the two began appearing as 2000 drew to a close. On December 4, they arrived separately at the Los Angeles premiere of "Proof." Two days later, the British tabloid "The Mirror" quoted Crowe as saying "I'm still looking for the right woman. I'm not getting married this year, and I'm not having babies this year, either." The comments reportedly triggered a spat between the pair at Los Angeles's Hotel Bel-Air, where Crowe was staying. What a difference seven months can make. While filming "Proof" in London last June, Ryan and Crowe shared candlelit dinners and late-night strolls. On June 28, Ryan and Quaid, 46, announced their separation. Ryan moved out of their Brentwood, California, home and purchased an $8.9 million house in Bel Air. Each filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking joint custody of their son, Jack, 8. The jilted husband seemed to recover quickly. Though he reportedly became involved with actor Andie MacDowell, Quaid also managed to make time for Playboy model Caprice Bourret, as well as frolicking atop the bar at the New York watering hole Hogs & Heifers and dancing cheek to cheek with Italian beauty Anna Molinari Gigli at the Hold, a Milan nightclub. Meanwhile, Ryan and Crowe were also out and about. They watched a rodeo in Nana Glen, Australia, near Crowe's 560-acre farm. They sailed around Sydney Harbor on Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's yacht, Alibi. They were among the guests at Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones's November wedding gala at New York's Plaza Hotel. But apparently trouble was brewing. The pair were apart on New Year's Eve: Ryan attended the Aspen, Colorado, nuptials of Kate Hudson and Black Crowes lead singer Chris Robinson with her brother, Andrew, while Crowe threw his annual bash in Nana Glen. Over the holidays, he reportedly saw an ex-girlfriend, actor Danielle Spencer, and television's Peta Wilson of La Femme Nikita. (Wilson's representative says that she and Crowe are just friends.) Now that her ex-husband and ex-flame are both eligible bachelors making the scene, it seems that Ryan is home alone at least for the time being. But if it's any consolation, next month she begins filming Kate & Leopold in New York, a time-travel romantic comedy - costarring another Aussie heartthrob, Hugh Jackman. Sarah Saffian, Eric Gladstone, Matt Graham & Vanessa Torres (January 25, 2001) |