Ryan played Kathleen, the owner of an independent children's bookstore called The Shop Around the Corner. After joining an over-30 chat room online, Kathleen unknowingly starts an epistolary romance with Joe, her business rival.
Like Hanks, Ryan began professionally acting in the early 1980s.
Some of her first credits include lead roles on the long-running CBS soap opera "As the World Turns" — her character, Betsy Stewart, was a fan favorite whose on-screen wedding garnered 20 million viewers — and on the Western ABC series "Wildside."
Leaving TV for Hollywood, Ryan had a supporting part in "Top Gun" (1986) as Nick "Goose" Bradshaw's wife, Carole. But it was her roles in romantic comedies that earned her a reputation as "America's sweetheart."
Opposite Billy Crystal, she charmed viewers in Rob Reiner's friends-to-lovers romance "When Harry Met Sally…" (1989). In "Sleepless in Seattle," she played a journalist who falls for a single dad (Hanks) after his young son calls into a radio talk show.
Ryan went on to star in the drama "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1994) and appeared opposite Nicolas Cage in the romantic fantasy "City of Angels" (1998).
She also provided the speaking voice for the title character in "Anastasia" (1997), the animated musical inspired by the Russian royal family.