Heartbreakus Maximus: Is Ryan Seeing Crowe?

For what it's worth, British tabloids are following up the news of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid's failed relationship Friday by printing pictures of the perky actress with buff Gladiator star Russell Crowe.

The Sun claimed that Thursday's public announcement that the Hollywood couple was separating after nearly a decade of marriage came on the heels of its own "exposé" of Ryan's new relationship with her Proof of Life co-star Crowe.

"Meg and Russell are extremely close and incredibly fond of each other," the tabloid quoted an unnamed friend as saying. "They just click. She feels young again and they've been having a wonderful time in London."

Ryan is in London (with her 8-year-old son by Quaid, Jack Henry) while shooting Proof of Life with Crowe. Gossip columnists are saying the two hooked up on the set of Proof, which began shooting in February and wraps in two weeks.

Ryan and Crowe were apparently spotted holding hands last week at a David Bowie concert in London and later were seen on the other side of the Atlantic, sharing a cigarette near Central Park in New York City.

However, it seems that Crowe is a chummy guy, and his affections may or may not be symbolic of a greater meaning. Last month, gossip rag The National Enquirer printed photos of him and actress Jodie Foster joking and touching on their way home from shopping in Los Angeles. He's also been linked to heartbreaker actress Winona Ryder.

"There is no third party involved," the former couple's publicist, Lisa Kasteler, told the New York Daily News.

Ryan, star of hits like You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle, married Quaid, recently seen in Frequency, on Valentine's Day in 1991.

The couple met in 1987 while working on the sci-fi flick Innerspace and began dating a year later on the set of the thriller D.O.A.

Reuters contributed to this story.