Meg Ryan

Parkinson appearance

In 2003, she broke away from her usual roles and starred in In the Cut, an erotic crime thriller which was unpopular with both critics and the public. In October 2003, while promoting this film in the UK, Ryan created a stir after her notoriously terse interview with talk-show host Michael Parkinson on the long-running television talk show Parkinson. Her behavior included short one-word answers. At one point, Parkinson posed to her, "if you were me, what would you do now?" Ryan responded by answering, "wrap it up,". She was lambasted by the British press and their icy exchange would, in a 2006 survey of British TV viewers, even be voted the third "most shocking" TV talk show moment ever. Parkinson later confessed that Ms. Ryan's interview was his "most difficult TV moment" ever, adding, "I should have closed it. But listen, it happens. She was an unhappy woman. I felt sorry for her. What I couldn't forgive her for was that she was rude to the other guests."

In response, via an interview with Marie Claire magazine in 2006, Ryan blamed Parkinson's perceived paternal manner, saying:

"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. I felt like he was berating me for being naked in the movie. He said something like: 'You should go back to doing what you were doing'. And I thought, are you like a disapproving dad right now? I'm not even related to you. Back off, buddy. I was so offended by him."

The episode also brought into sharp focus the difference between the UK's publicly funded BBC, which has no advertisements, and US commercial networks which, due to their frequent commercial breaks, often allow guests additional time to formulate their answers:

"I realized it's not like an American talk show where it's seven minutes and then there's a commercial break. I had to do 20 minutes straight with this guy, and I could either walk off - which wouldn't be good - or try to disagree with him very respectfully."

Trivia

Filmography