Meg Ryan on Being a 'Scarlet Woman'

October 12, 2000 -- "So this is what it feels like to be the scarlet woman. Oh! I'm having that experience now!" Meg Ryan says, describing a moment a few months ago when the media got wind of her steamy affair with Russell Crowe.

Well, she's not actually dishing on life with her hunky Gladiator paramour, but after months of being silent tabloid fodder, Ryan has finally spoken publicly about her split with hubby Dennis Quaid.

In the November issue of W magazine, the 38-year-old actress, who specializes in happy endings on-screen, reveals that her marriage with Quaid was over long before a certain Aussie hottie entered her life.

"My marriage and the dissolution of my marriage … well, the real reasons for it will always be speculation, because I'll never talk about what went down, and neither will Dennis," she says. "It dissolved before it became sport for the press. The public and the press tuned in way after."

Perhaps addressing her affair with Crowe, Ryan says, "the reasons [Quaid and I] broke up have nothing to do with another person. My marriage was broken — nobody else broke it up." The only mention she makes of Mr. Crowe during the interview (her publicist put the topic off limits) is to praise his performance in their upcoming film, Proof of Life, in which he plays a man who, get this, falls in love with Ryan's married character.

Ryan also takes the opportunity to deny stories of Quaid's infidelity, letting her soon-to-be-ex off the hook in that much-rumored-about department. "We both behaved very honorably — in our marriage and in our breakup. He never cheated on me. I can't believe they're saying that about him," says the tousled-haired actress.

After nine years of seemingly blissful married life, Quaid filed for divorce in June. Following a seeming reconciliation, Ryan filed her own divorce papers in August.

Ryan and Crowe have not been shy about their newfound couple-hood, kissing and cuddling all over London, Los Angeles, and Sydney, Australia — to the delight of paparazzi the world over.

So, now that Meg's shattered her good-girl image forever, will she be up for more racy parts on-screen as well? One report had Imagine's Brian Grazer hot to sign the wide-eyed Sleepless in Seattle actress to star as … porn legend Linda "Deep Throat" Lovelace.

Although Meg hasn't commented, Grazer now says his comments that "I really want to trash a wholesome girl," which appeared in Entertainment Weekly, were taken out of context. "I'm surprised she isn't suing," Grazer now tells columnist Jeannette Walls.

The Imagine exec says he's considering dropping the project altogether, even though Lovelace herself still "really wants me to do it," he says.