Meg Ryan, the leading woman of the 1990s rom-coms, has spoken up about the part that single-handedly destroyed her career.

The actress, who was born in 1961, rose to prominence after starring in the film Rich and Famous in 1981.

In 1983, she starred in Amityville III: The Demon, a horror film in which she experimented with the genre. In 1986, Ryan landed a role in Top Gun. When Harry Met Sally, a romantic comedy released in 1989, was her big break in Hollywood (via MSN). Other notable roles Ryan has secured include Joe Versus the Volcano, which he co-wrote with Tom Hanks in 1990, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and The Doors.

But how did the actor of highly acclaimed and artistically significant movies become persona non grata? This is why Meg Ryan’s was canceled by Hollywood.

In a recent interview with the New York Times Magazine, the former America’s Sweetheart revealed that a single part as a schoolteacher in a raunchy R-rated film was enough to put a stop to her acting career.

Her performance in the 2003 film In the Cut drew a lot of flak, and she told The New York Times in 2019:

“The reaction was vicious,” Ryan said, adding, “Since then, I’ve had publicists say to me, ‘You should’ve prepared your audience for your doing something different.’ … I’d never presented myself like that before; it was so different from my assigned archetype. Probably I had a very neutered image.”

She subsequently went on to direct the film Ithaca in 2015. Her transition from actress to director provided her with a new perspective on performing. “I was burned out. I didn’t feel like I knew enough anymore about myself or the world to reflect it as an actor. I felt isolated,” she told The New York Times.

After more than a decade of smash successes including You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless In Seattle, and When Harry Met Sally, Ryan featured with Mark Ruffalo in In The Cut in 2003.

In the Cut is a racy, sensual thriller with a hypersexual narrative line that follows Ryan’s character, a schoolteacher, as she has an affair with a detective. After Ryan’s character witnesses a couple having oral sex in a restroom and later discovers a severed limb in her front yard, the two meet. The film proceeds in a violent and sexually explicit manner.

Ryan rose to prominence at an early age, which limited her opportunities to develop outside of Hollywood. She told The New York Times, “I’m not complaining — there are so many advantages to being famous — but there are fundamental disadvantages for a part of your brain, your self, your soul. My experiences were too limited.”