Meg Ryan has finally revealed what she thought of her very awkward and now notorious interview with Michael Parkinson.
Sir Michael clashed with the Hollywood star, 63, in 2003 when talking about her poorly reviewed film In The Cut in a car crash TV moment still talked about to this day.
A frosty Meg replied to his questions with one-word answers and ended up telling him to ‘wrap it up’ after he asked about the nudity in the film.
While Sir Michael has always claimed the actress was ‘rude and difficult’, he has previously admitted he did not react in the right way.
Now in a new interview with The Times, Meg has had her say, explaining: ‘I thought it was so bad. In the States the talk shows have breaks every four minutes for adverts, so I kept waiting for the break because I was gonna stand up and leave.
‘But the break never came because it was on the BBC.’
Meg Ryan has finally revealed what she thought of her very awkward and now notorious interview with Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael clashed with the Hollywood star, 63, in 2003 when talking about her poorly reviewed film In The Cut in a car crash TV moment still talked about to this day
She also told how she was made to feel uncomfortable by fashion experts Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine on the show for judging her look.
Meg said: ‘And also there were these, I don’t know, outfit criticisers on the show, and he asked them, ‘What do you think of what she’s wearing right now?…’
She told how she never spoke to Parkinson after the show, saying: ‘Wow, I didn’t know who that guy was to begin with, and I don’t have to think about him again.’
In 2021 Parkinson – who died last year at 88 – apologised to Meg for their car crash encounter and confessed to being ‘angry and pompous’.
The talk show legend also admitted at the time that he would be taken off air now in today’s ‘ultra-sensitive world’.
While Sir Michael has always claimed the actress was ‘rude and difficult’, he has admitted he did not react in the right way.
‘I wish I hadn’t lost my temper with Meg Ryan. I wish I’d dealt with it in a more courteous manner,’ he told Radio Times.
‘I was obviously angry with her and it’s not my business to be angry towards the guests.
‘I came across as kind of pompous and I could have done better.’
A frosty Meg replied to his questions with one-word answers and ended up telling him to ‘wrap it up’ after he asked about the nudity in the film
While Sir Michael (left) has always claimed the actress was ‘rude and difficult’, he has previously admitted he did not react in the right way
Asked what he would say to her now, he replied: ‘I’m sorry. But you played a part in it too. Neither of us were on top form.’
Sir Michael hosted his BBC chat show for nearly two decades in two spells to 2004.
But he said: ‘In this ultra-sensitive world I doubt I could do an interview nowadays without being sent off. There are so many pitfalls and booby traps.’
In 2006 Miss Ryan said: ‘I felt he was berating me for being naked in the movie.
‘He said something like, ‘You should go back to doing what you were doing’. I thought, ‘Are you like a disapproving dad? Back off, buddy’. I was so offended.’
During the icy discussion, Parkinson asked if her apprehension of journalists gives her insight into what they want, Ryan defensively replied: ‘Now that I am wary of them?’
Parkinson answered: ‘Yes, you are wary of journalists, you are wary of me, you are wary of the interview. You don’t like being interviewed.
He later asked: ‘If you were me, what would you do now?’, to which Ryan ordered him to ‘Just wrap it up.’
At the time Parkinson branded ‘beautiful Meg’ as an ‘unhappy woman’, while she hit back labelling him a ‘nut’.
He also later claimed in an interview with Australia’s Stellar Magazine that she was impolite to the guests on his show.
The talk show veteran boiled Ryan’s irritated facial expressions and stand-off-ish behaviour down to her film’s poor performance.
In 2020, the iconic journalist stated: ‘There was very good reason; she was in a film that didn’t do very well and was at the end of a long tour and couldn’t wait to get home.’
Now in a new interview with The Times, Meg has had her say, explaining: ‘I thought it was so bad. In the States the talk shows have breaks every four minutes for adverts, so I kept waiting for the break because I was gonna stand up and leave’
In 2021 Parkinson – who died last year at 88 – apologised to Meg for their car crash encounter and confessed to being ‘angry and pompous’
But in a chat with Marie Claire, the star of When Harry Met Sally placed the blame on Parkinson for the frosty interview.
She stated that she felt Parkinson was criticising her for being nude in the movie, saying that she was ‘so offended by him’.
In 2006, Ryan said: ‘I don’t even know the man. That guy was like some disapproving father! It’s crazy. I don’t know what he is to you guys, but he’s a nut.
‘He said something like, “You should go back to doing what you were doing”. I thought, “Are you like a disapproving dad? Back off, buddy”. I was so offended.’
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