Meg & Russell – Trouble in Paradise

America’s Sweetheart wants the Gladiator to move in with her in LA – he says “No Way!”

Story: Peter Kent

Each comment highlighted is questionable. 'sources say' and who was there to witnes the full first 3 paragraphs?

MEG AND DENNIS - IT'S ALL OVER

Her affair with Australian star Russell Crowe was the final straw.  And she will probably lose her son in an ugly custody battle ......

By Caroline Graham

For nine years they were one of Tinseltown's best-loved couples and no matter how tough things got they always seemed to keep the romance in their marriage alive. 

Not even alcoholism and cocaine addiction could split them up.  When tall, dark and handsome Dennis Quaid went public with his addictions Meg Ryan, the bubbly blonde whose movies have made her America's sweetheart, was at his side. 

She stuck by him through thick and thin and when their son Jack was born in 1992 their future together seemed assured. 

But Meg's affair with Australian star Russell Crowe (36) ruined it all. 

In a furious phone call to London, where Meg and Russell were filming the thriller Proof of Life, Dennis told her she was a bad wife and mother and that he was filing for divorce immediately.

He also said he would take whatever legal action was necessary to keep their son Jack and prevent him from staying with her.

Two weeks ago, fearful of her young son's emotional state and not wanting him caught up in a tug of love, Meg reluctantly agreed to her husband's demands. 

With a heavy heart she drove Jack to the airport, kissed him goodbye and put him on a plane to Los Angeles.  Dennis met him 12 hours later and took him home to the R34 million mansion the couple used to share.

Meg doesn't know if she'll ever see him again and may soon have to choose between her new lover and her son.

Since parting from Jack she's been so distressed she's found it hard to concentrate in front of the cameras.  Costars at Pinewood Studios say she's spent most of her time in tears, sometimes with Russell but often white-faced and alone.

In their new movie Russell plays a hostage negotiator who falls for the wife of the man he's trying to free.  Meg plays the wife.

Russell's come a long way since his humble beginnings in the Australian soap Neighbours.  His film credits include:  The Quick and the Dead (Sharon Stone got him the part), The Insider (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and Gladiator.  He's also  member of the popular group 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.

He's now paid about R105 million a movie.  Meg and Dennis met on the set of the 1987 sci-fi movie Innerspace and again when they starred together in the mystery DOA.  They got engaged a year later and Meg swore their marriage would be for ever. 

She remembered how her mom left home when she was just 15 and was determined
not to make anyone suffer in the same way.

"I felt rejected and abandoned," she said.  "It was a motivator for my career.  I'll never do the same to my family." 

But even though she's dumped Dennis and caused her son pain not everyone thinks she's behaved badly.  Some of her friends and especially her mom believe it was inevitable given the emotional nightmare she was put through by Dennis.

"I disapproved of their marriage because of this drug-taking and drinking," says Susan Jordan, who left Meg's maths teacher dad Harry Hyra and their other children Peggy, Andrew and Annie to become a failed actress when she was the same age as Meg is now.

"I always thought he was a weak character and wondered why it was taking Meg so long to acknowledge his faults.  He was childish, immature.  She was ambitious.  He flitted from one thing to another like a child.

"Everyone else was so surprised when Meg's affair became public, but I wasn't.  When it was announced they were making a movie together it was obvious Meg would either hate Russell and have him kicked off the set because he was everything Dennis wasn't, or she'd end up having a passionate affair with him.  That was five months ago." 

Susan says Meg's willingness to be seen in public with him means she isn't ashamed of her actions, no matter how miserable and guilty she feels about her son.  "She's running all over London with Russell and she's having her picture taken," she says.  "To me this isn't a woman who's ashamed of what she's doing.  I get the impression she's relieved the lie is over.  I know Meg and know she'll have tried hard to save the marriage.  But who really knows when it was all over?"

Meg and Susan have had a strange and troubled relationship.  A few years ago, when Susan had a mastectomy after getting breast cancer, Meg refused to help her.

Susan believes this was because they're so much alike - stubborn, manipulative and unforgiving.  But because they're so similar she believes she knows Meg would have been really troubled about being unfaithful.

"Like me she felt trapped and lonely and had to break free.  She's her mother's daughter.  She stayed in her marriage because it was about protecting her image.  But she must have been horribly unhappy.

"She's made the decision she doesn't want to live a lie any more and I respect that.

"It was clear her marriage was going nowhere.  She's one of the biggest stars in the world while her husband has a less successful career and often stays at home.  Dennis wasn't a man.  She was the adult in the relationship and that can be a lonely thing."

The image of a tearful child being torn between its parents is one Susan knows only too well.  Her decision to leave home enraged teenaged Meg, who has often spoken of her devastation at seeing her mom drive away.  Of the four kids she was the only one to run after Susan, pleading:  "Mom, I want to come with you."

But she's not at all sure her daughter's at last found true happiness.

"I think Russell is exciting and is giving her something that was clearly lacking in her marriage," Susan says.  "But who knows if it'll last?  I hope Meg finds the happiness she's looking for, but I suspect the worst and worry about Jack.

"I know she adores her son.  I just hope he doesn't become another victim."

RICK FULTON EXCLUSIVE

RUSSELL Crowe fell in love with Meg Ryan while mourning the death of his favourite uncle. The Gladiator star was a notorious womaniser until the family tragedy drove him into the arms of married Meg.

Russell's aunt has revealed that the death of his beloved uncle Dave made Russell yearn for a deeper, more stable relationship, one that previous flings could never offer.

Audrey Crowe said: "Russell was absolutely devastated by the death. He was inconsolable.

"Dave and Russell were very close. They spoke regularly over the phone."

Russell was shooting Proof of Life in Ecuador when he received the news that his 66-year-old uncle had lost his long battle with cancer. The pain of losing the man he loved best after his father Alex made him turn to co-star Meg for comfort - and ended her troubled marriage to Dennis Quaid.

Russell has even written a song called Dave for his rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunt. He had been a mentor to Russell all his life. He was the only relative with an interest in acting and had performed as a young man in New Zealand.

Audrey said: "He was never as good as Russell became, but loved it nonetheless. And it was this similar interest that made Russell and Dave so close."

Dave's final wish was to watch Gladiator, the movie which helped propel his nephew to mega-stardom.

Audrey explained: "The film meant the world to him as the previous year Russell had flown Dave out to Malta where he was filming it. "I can't tell you how much that meant to Dave. He loved it, he was so proud of what Russell had achieved and being with him on the set was like a dream come true."

She added: "Dave told us his last wish was to see the finished film. Russell made sure that he got what he wanted."

When Russell was asked to the Australian premiere in Sydney, he went on condition that he was allowed time off to jet to New Zealand and watch the movie with Dave.

Audrey said: "Dave saw the film on the Saturday with Russell in a private screening at our house. He died the following Thursday.

"Russell and Dave spent an hour talking. Russell sat by his side all the time. It was lovely and meant so much to the pair of them to have that final intimate time alone."

When Dave died Russell was in Ecuador with only Meg to comfort him. She was going through bad times in her nine-year marriage. She and Crowe tried to comfort one another in their pain.

An insider said: "It was inevitable that they would fall for each other."

MEG TELLS RUSSELL TO SHOOT THE CROWE 

HOLLYWOOD actress Meg Ryan has dumped her Gladiator lover Russell Crowe. 

The blonde beauty is back living with hubby Dennis Quaid, who is now set to drop his divorce action filed last month. 

Ryan ditched New Zealand-born Crowe after she discovered he had been canoodling with another woman. 

The Sleepless In Seattle star says her fling with the Gladiator actor was "a dreadful mistake". 

She told a showbiz pal: "All he wanted from me was round the clock sex." 

Dennis, 46, and Meg have been back living together for the past two weeks. 

The couple have been seen taking long walks in a park close to their home with their eight-year-old son Jack. 

Meg's torrid affair with Crowe took off in London as they filmed the up-coming movie Proof Of Life. 

Quaid moved out of their home and into a Beverly Hills hotel after hearing about the relationship. 

After Meg returned to LA and checked into another hotel, she called Dennis and asked for a meeting. 

A close friend of Crowe's said: "Russell's a crazy womaniser who enjoys bedding beautiful females. 

"He's even got Sharon Stone notched on his bedpost. Why was Meg going to be any different? The romance never stood a chance." 

Meg, 38, and Dennis went for counselling with the minister at their local church in Beverly Hills. He urged them to attempt a reconciliation. 

A family friend said: "Meg wants Dennis to forgive her and for them to put their lives back together, as much for their son as for each other. 

"She says her passion for Crowe was a result of a crazy mid-life crisis - and it's over. Despite all that's happened, Dennis is in love with Meg."

Meg dumps Russell Crowe

Hollywood actress Meg Ryan has returned to her actor husband Dennis Quaid following a three-month fling with Gladiator star Russell Crowe, according to Britain's Express newspaper. 

The 38-year-old actress who starred in When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle was reported to have described her affair with New Zealand-born Crowe as a "dreadful mistake". 

Quaid, 46, has dropped the divorce action he filed last month after Ryan begged his forgiveness, the paper said. 

Ryan's affair with Crowe took off in London when they were filming the up-coming film Proof of Life. 

"Meg wants Dennis to forgive her and for them to put their lives back together again," a friend of the couple said in the Express, attributing the affair to a "crazy mid-life crisis"."

Still together - Meg, Russell and his Grunts 
Denise McNABB

HOLLYWOOD star Meg Ryan and New Zealand-born actor Russell Crowe are still a hot item despite an unnamed showbusiness friend of Ryan's telling British media last week that she had gone back to her husband, actor Dennis Quaid.

This week Ryan, 38, who began her affair with Crowe three months ago when they were filming Proof of Life, is with Crowe in Austin, Texas, where he is recording a new album with his band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.

The album includes a song he wrote as a tribute to his late uncle, David Crowe, the father of test cricketers Martin and Jeff Crowe. 

A New Zealand source close to Crowe and his family said that on Tuesday Crowe and Ryan had talked by phone from Austin to people in New Zealand. Crowe has flown band members, family and mates, including some from New Zealand, to join him. The source said Crowe was furious about the story that said Ryan had dumped him "because all he wanted was 
around-the-clock sex".

Neither Ryan nor Quaid have made any public comments since Britain's Daily Express.

They plan spring Kiwi wedding

MEG RYAN will marry Russell Crowe once her divorce is final.

The pair who are currently in Australia will tie the knot next spring in his native New Zealand, friends claim.

It will be a devastating blow to Meg's husband Dennis Quaid who filed for divorce after her romance with the Gladiator star was revealed.

Meg and Dennis have been married for nine years and have an eight-year-old son, Jack.

A close friend said: "Meg is absolutely beaming with joy. I haven't seen her this happy since Jack's birth."

According to sources close to the couple, a conversation between Quaid and Crowe, 36, took place two weeks ago.

Quaid asked his love rival exactly what his intentions were with respect to his wife. Crowe replied: "To make her my wife."

Meg, 38, and Russell met and fell in love on the set of thriller Proof of Life. At the time, he was getting over the death of his beloved uncle.

The pair became close and their relationship was brought to light by OTR after they were seen looking very friendly at a secret BBC David Bowie gig.

The following day Meg admitted her marriage to Dennis was over.

The friend added: "Meg hasn't exactly given details of where or when the wedding will take place, but it will probably be a small affair with just family and friends."

Meg will meet some of Russell's friends and families on their current holiday and the pair are planning to go to New Zealand in December to meet the rest.

One of Russell's close friends added: "Russell is, quite frankly, extremely surprised but delighted at the turn of events with Meg.

"He's always been the love em' and leave em' type, never really sticking around that long, but he's definitely found something with Meg that's been missing in his life.

Meg's divorce decree should become final in February next year and friends say they are looking at an April or May wedding. 

Ugh! Yet more headlines from the Splitsville Sentinel: You might call this one "Wife Doesn't Know How to Leave Home Without It."

It being a good slab of prime Australian beef, otherwise known as Russell Crowe.

Mrs. Dennis Quaid being the spouse in question, natch. Meg Ryan was seen at the Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming recently, with none other than her Proof of Life costar, Mistuh C.

(Jackson Hole, by the by, is just a chic SUV's drive down from the Quaid-Ryan ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana.)

Wasn't it just two seconds ago the temporarily reunited Quaids were spotted doing what every boring old married couple makes time for at least once a week: browsing at Blockbuster? (That's a oui, mon cherie.)

But there were the Thighmaster and Ms. Ryan traipsing through the airport together. Now, I'd never say the L-word where these two are involved, but it has gotta be more than a night in the barn when a dude lugs two bulging suitcases two paces behind his gal, while the latter carries nothing but attitude.

Sorry, just as when Princess Margaret got caught dusting lint off of her lover's shoulders, that says something.

(Oh, that's right, I forgot. Nobody who reads this column knows who that royal pain is, so let me analogize once again: Just like when Justin Timberlake carried Britney Spears's mucho Banana Republic bags while on tour recently. That says the attendant is getting tipped with gusto, not green.)

For the tacky record, Meg looked just like she does onscreen: skinny, with sunglasses shimmying down her too-too-perfect nose. No need to mention the ratty hair, is there? And even though her yellow flowery sundress looked casual and friendly, her demeanor was anything but. Strutted around, but stonily stared ahead, avoiding eye contact like it was alimony.

Russ-babe, on the other muscled body part, was a notch nicer. At least he acknowledged the existence of other humans in the airport coffee shop, even going so far as an actual (limited) verbal exchange or two. R.C. had on jeans and a Henley-type shirt, and he sported a Gladiator-esque beard and haircut. Actually seemed to be looking for sympathy from the other hubby types. The dude definitely appeared vexed that he was deemed skycap for the day.

But then the on/off-ers hopped on a Lear Jet and left the spying eyes of Wyoming far behind, which, of course, they are anything but.

As I've said a few times, we haven't seen the last of these lusties, no matter how wayward they seem to be.

Ryan and Crowe soak up the sun cheek-to-cheek 

Pictures from American tabloid The National Enquirer are claimed to be proof that there is life still in the romance between actor Meg Ryan and adopted Australian tough guy, Russell Crowe.

According to the paper, the 38-year-old mother of one was photographed strolling along a beach at a trendy California resort with Crowe, despite claims their affair was at an end.

Crowe, in a lumberjack shirt and cargos, and Ryan, in a T-shirt and three-quarter length pants, shocked bystanders with an impromptu cheek-to-cheek dance in daylight.

The National Enquirer, which secured the pictures, said the couple kissed and cuddled and sipped Starbucks coffee along the Santa Barbara beachfront.

The pair had apparently had a brief holiday together at the star-laden ski resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, just after Ryan fled her marriage to actor Dennis Quaid.

She had earlier filed for divorce from Quaid, ending a nine-year union, which she had seemingly attempted to save after her affair with Crowe on the set of their upcoming movie, Proof Of Life.

Celebrity gossip TV show host, Ted Casablanca, told his viewers: "Now I'd never say the L-word where these two are involved but it has gotta be more than a night in the barn when a dude lugs two bulging suitcases two paces behind his gal, while the latter carries nothing but attitude."

As she passed through the airport, she was said to have "strutted around, but stonily stared ahead, avoiding eye contact like it was alimony."

On the other hand, the usually abrasive Crowe was described as behaving quite gentlemanly.

"At least he acknowledged the existence of other humans in the airport coffee shop, even going as far as an actual, limited verbal exchange or two," said Casablanca. "He seemed to be looking for sympathy from the other hubby types. The dude definitely appeared vexed that he was deemed skycap for the day."

Ryan and Crowe boarded a private Lear jet and flew off.

Friends claim Quaid never truly believed Ryan's affair with Crowe was over even though she was begging him to take her back. Ryan sensed this, filed for divorce and, as Quaid had predicted, went straight back into Crowe's arms.

As soon as Crowe's concert tour was over he flew into the small Santa Monica Airport and rushed to the tiny town's Casa Del Mar beach front hotel for a reunion with Ryan.

Meanwhile, 46-year-old Quaid is said to be cuddling up with 23-year-old model Mar Saura, who hosts a television show in Spain.

Love of 'Life'
What repercussions will the Meg Ryan/ Russell Crowe affair have? EW reports on office romance, Hollywood style
by Gillian Flynn

Unless you spent last summer blindfolded in a cellar, you pretty much know the plot of ''Proof of Life'' right? It's about this adorable blond movie star who's got a happy Hollywood marriage to a hunky fellow actor. She flies to Ecuador to shoot a movie and winds up having a fling with this macho Richard Burtonish bloke. It wreaks havoc on her marriage. The tabloids go bonkers. The drama! 

Oh, wait. That's actually the story BEHIND the making of Warner Bros.' December kidnapping thriller ''Proof of Life'' starring Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe -- although you're forgiven for confusing real life with their movie's plot. At this point the very title ''Proof of Life'' is inextricably tangled up with tales of Ryan and Crowe's on set summer lovin', photos of the snuggly duo hand in hand, and a heartbreaking divorce suit from Ryan's hubby, Dennis Quaid. (Ryan has since also filed for divorce, along with shared custody of the couple's only child, Jack Henry, 8. None of the threesome would comment.) 

Actors like to joke that romance doesn't count when it's on a movie set. Tell that to the studio footing the bill; Warner Bros. ponied up a reported $15 million to sign Ryan alone. Now it has to market a film whose central character relationship morphed into a global scandale d'amour. The problem has its precedents -- and its varying outcomes. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's adulterous passion nearly dethroned 1963's ''Cleopatra,'' igniting a scandal that contributed to a less than imperial gross. (The $44 million epic didn't break even until years later.) 

Ali McGraw and Steve McQueen's home wrecking -- at the expense of famed ''Godfather'' producer Robert Evans, McGraw's then husband -- nearly sent ''The Getaway'' careening off course in 1972, but it recovered to nab a healthy (for the times) $40 million. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman set off sparks on the set of 1990's ''Days of Thunder'' hot on the heels of his separation from wife Mimi Rogers, but the film raced to $166 million worldwide. So this isn't uncharted territory. ''People have set romances all the time,'' says one studio publicist. ''Especially when they're sent to Ecuador and they happen to be really pretty and really handsome -- and really lonely.'' 

But what happens when the actress has forged a career as America's sweetheart? Warner must be wondering whether Ryan's offscreen behavior shatters her ''girl next door'' image. The studio refuses to comment, but insiders predict Ryan and Crowe -- who are under contract to publicize the film -- will make very separate publicity appearances, under a blanket refusal to answer personal questions. And Warner is unlikely to exploit the romance, most agree. '''Any press is good press' is a thoroughly wrong statement,'' says celebrity publicist Eddie Michaels. ''And for a studio to consciously use someone's rumored personal situation as part of their marketing plan would be completely unethical.'' 

Which doesn't mean Warner Bros. won't tangentially benefit from all the titillating talk: Public curiosity (and private chemistry) maygive ''Proof'' life. Crowe and Ryan, says a studio marketing exec, ''must have had something pretty good if it came off the screen and became real.'' ''Loveline'' relationship expert and ''Big Brother'' adviser Dr. Drew agrees: ''I had no interest in this film until I heard about all of this,'' he admits. ''People will want to see if they can pick up on her falling in love with him on screen.'' 

The curiosity factor comes into play with November's ''Bounce,'' which pairs America's Oscar winning ''are they or aren't they'' couple, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck -- to the likely delight of their benefactor Miramax. Director Don Roos is planning how to juggle the inevitable questions. ''Maybe I should just play ignorant,'' he laughs. '''I have no idea what's going on!''' 

Sparks indicate heat -- which studios like -- but there's always a chance of getting burned: A complicated relationship makes for complicated PR planning. ''You could book [an appearance] this week, and everything's on -- and next week? Ouch,'' says the marketing exec. 

Miramax admits even the hottest (or hot and coldest) couple won't get people into seats simply because of public voyeurism. ''You look at the movies couples are in, and when they've been couples in a really good film, they work,'' says Miramax publicity president Marcy Granata. ''The offscreen stuff -- I don't know if it matters.'' 

Maybe, but viewers who want to debate the state of the Ben/ Gwyn union may head to ''Bounce'' just to see if they can spot an understanding. ''When you take a couple who's on again, off again, things get much more interesting,'' says the marketing exec. ''It's the tension that makes it interesting for an audience.'' 

Then it may be lucky that the affiancéd Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas share no screen time in December's ''Traffic.'' ''Once people are married, it's like, eh,'' says marketing analyst Tony Angellotti. ''Married people know there's no more sexual tension when people are married -- you're not going to fool them.'' 
(Additional reporting by William Keck)

MEG RYAN & RUSSELL CROWE RUSH TO QUICKIE WEDDING 

Meg Ryan had a lot to Crowe about during a red-hot three-day tryst with hunk Russell Crowe. 

Their public display of passion -- including smooching in a Santa Monica restaurant and dancing for joy in the street -- pounded the final nails into the coffin of her marriage to Dennis Quaid. 

Meanwhile, halfway across the world, Meg's soon-to-be ex also showed he's begun a brand-new chapter in his life -- by publicly smooching with a raven-haired beauty at a restaurant in Spain. 

Clearly Meg, 38, and Dennis, 46, are sending a message: They are back in love -- but not with each other! 

"Meg and Russell are already behaving like they are on their honeymoon," declared a source close to Meg. 

"She's planning on a quickie wedding with Russell as soon as she divorces Dennis. 

"She's champing at the bit to begin her new life with her 'Gladiator.' " 

As The ENQUIRER previously revealed, Quaid filed for divorce on July 11 after nearly 10 years of marriage were blown apart by Meg's summer romance with 36-year-old Crowe. 

The "Sleepless in Seattle" star -- who has an 8-year-old son with Quaid -- tried to mend fences and her pleas almost worked. 

"Meg said she wanted to keep the marriage alive and the family together," disclosed an insider. "She begged for Dennis to give her another chance. 

"But Dennis sensed that the affair with Russell wasn't over. Try as he might, Dennis could not trust Meg anymore. 

"Knowing that the end was near, Meg ruminated for several days and then filed her own divorce petition. And as Dennis predicted, she's run straight back into Russell's arms." 

Revealed an observer: "Russell flew into Santa Monica Airport from Texas on Labor Day around 3 p.m. 

"His luggage was immediately loaded into a black SUV and he was driven to the Casa Del Mar, a beachside Santa Monica hotel. 

"Russell was wearing a blue lumberjack jacket and jeans when he checked into a top floor suite. 

"He wore the same outfit he'd arrived in when he joined Meg for dinner. 

"The couple returned to the lobby of the hotel at 10:05 p.m. 

"They were holding hands and cuddling. They then spent the night in Russell's suite. 

"On Tuesday, the couple ordered morning room service consisting of bagels, toast and coffee. Hotel valets pulled Meg's white BMW around to the front, and she sped off at 9:40 a.m. 

"For the next two days, the pattern remained the same. 

"Meg arrived about sunset, the couple went to dinner, returned to Russell's hotel suite between 9 and 10 p.m. and spent the night together. 

"One night she wore a stunning leather jacket and long skirt ensemble. 

"On Wednesday, September 6, the couple spent the late afternoon and early evening on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade. 

"They went shopping, engaged in a little sidewalk dancing and had a leisurely afternoon lunch at Yangtzee -- dining on sushi and Japanese vegetarian dishes. 

"Stops at a bookstore, a DVD store and a cigar store were also on Meg and Russell's shopping excursion. They held hands, hugged and kissed the entire time. 

"At one point, the couple could be seen in the main window of a Starbucks coffeehouse kissing up a storm. 

"Meg spent one final night, Wednesday, September 6, in Russell's suite. 

"During their three-day love romp, Meg and Russell also went for romantic walks along the beach in Santa Monica. On Thursday morning, Meg and Russell parted. 

"They left the impression they are a couple deeply in love." 

Despite the pain of his marriage breakup, Dennis is letting no grass grow under his feet. 

He recently traveled to Europe to promote his new movie "Frequency," and while in Spain he fell hard for spellbinder model Mar Saura, the 23-year-old hostess of a TV show called "Look at Me." 

Dennis, who spent five days in Madrid, got a real good look. 

"Every night he was in Madrid, he spent with Saura," said a source in Spain. 

"Quaid left for Italy twice and both times he came back to be with Saura. 

"He was kissing her all the time, holding her hand and cuddling. 

"They were very much into each other." 

Revealed an insider: "The pair really got to know each other at a party thrown by the producers of his film. 

"They partied the night away -- dancing until 7 a.m. 

"Saura was also seen sitting with Quaid in a fashionable Madrid watering hole. They held hands, laughed and whispered. They were inseparable the entire time Quaid was in Spain." 

MARC CETNER and RICK EGUSQUIZA 

Meg and Russell Go 'Round the World 

The thrills are few in tiny Nana Glen, a bushland hamlet six hours north of Sydney. So locals attending a "campdrafting carnival" (that's Australian for rodeo) on Sept. 17 were delighted to spy through the billowing dust not one but two genuine movie stars in their midst. Seeing Gladiator's Russell Crowe perched on the wooden grandstand wasn't exactly a shock: the owner of a nearby 560-acre farm, the New Zealand-born, Aussie-bred actor is a regular at cattle-herding events and even donates a $2,000 prize. But the woman sitting close in front of him -- her sunglasses and broad-brimmed hat doing little to disguise a telltale mop of blonde hair -- set the Bush Telegraph, as they call the gossip grapevine in these parts, buzzing. 

By Monday, the news that Crowe was back home with Hollywood golden girl Meg Ryan had folks in the larger coastal town of Coffs Harbour, 20 miles away, all aflutter. "I was shopping right next to them," one excited caller told the local Hot FM radio station. "She's about three times more gorgeous than she is in the films!" Over at the Ridgey Didge pie shop, where the two stopped in for Crowe's favorite variety (sweet chili) of the meat-filled Aussie staple, one customer couldn't maintain her country composure. "You're Meg Ryan!" she gasped. "Yes," replied the star, accurately, "I'm Meg Ryan." 

In Sydney, Ryan and Crowe borrowed a boat that belongs to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Indeed, if there was any doubt that Ryan, 38, and Crowe, 36, were still very much an item, it has disintegrated Down Under, where the pair spent a couple of weeks last month touring Crowe's stomping grounds and soaking up the atmosphere of the Sydney Olympic Games. Since Ryan and actor Dennis Quaid announced an end to their nine-year marriage on June 28, the willowy actress and her brawny new boyfriend had kept a relatively low profile. But on Sept. 6, three days before heading to Australia, the pair were photographed on a Santa Monica, Calif., sidewalk cuddling and kissing among shoppers and tourists. By the time they hit Coffs, notes Ridgey Didge owner Terry Brown, Ryan, for one, "didn't seem to be holding anything back." 

Still, any illusion of togetherness was just that. By summer's end, it was clear that Quaid and Ryan were living very separate lives. In early September, Crowe, who had spent the preceding weeks in Austin, Texas, playing sold-out gigs with his band, Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts, and recording at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio, was reunited with Ryan in Santa Monica, where he checked into a plush hotel and she visited often. At the hip Yangtze restaurant nearby, the actress, wearing a short tank top and loose pants, munched on a California roll and sipped Diet Coke one afternoon while her beau chowed down on spiced sesame beef and a Coke. Though there were no mid-meal displays of affection, "he was protecting her," says a waitress, who noticed Crowe physically blocking Ryan from the stares of other patrons. 

Outside, on the Third Street Promenade, the pair weren't so cautious, holding hands, kissing and hugging as they walked, and taking a good 25 minutes to select an educational toy from the Discovery Channel store. "He had his arm around her waist," says a store employee. "They seemed really romantic."

So, for the most part, are the townsfolk of Coffs Harbour (pop. 55,000), where locals, says Bruce Partridge, an advertising salesman at The Coffs Harbour Advocate, "try not to make a big issue" of Crowe's visits. "We respect his privacy and we protect him." Still, it's tough not to stare when two movie stars -- one of whom made a spectacle of himself by getting caught up in a brawl last November at a nightclub just down the street -- are canoodling by the bar at the local pub, the Coffs Hotel, as Crowe and Ryan were on Sept. 15 while watching the Olympics opening ceremonies on the big screen. 

Four days later, after the campdrafting carnival, the pair drove 150 miles to Byron Bay, where they stayed at Rae's, a $425-a-night seven-suite beach resort on Watego's Beach, for a couple of days -- "just hanging out, just cruising," says local florist Sue Flynn -- before returning to Nana Glen. After two days, it was off to Sydney in Crowe's black BMW convertible. 

There the couple checked into the exclusive Park Hyatt Hotel, which offers views of Sydney Harbor and the Opera House, where they took in the local Bell Shakespeare Company's performance of Troilus and Cressida on Sept. 22. The following night, the pair were reportedly among the crowd at Stadium Australia to watch Marion Jones sprint to Olympic victory in the women's 100-meter final. Much of their sunny weekend was spent cruising the harbor aboard Alibi, the luxury yacht belonging to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, who calls Crowe "one of my dearest friends." Last month she told The Australian Women's Weekly magazine, "He is loyal beyond belief. We've spent almost every New Year's Eve together for the past few years: Tom, Russell and me." 

 If his estranged wife's new life bothers Quaid, it doesn't show -- at least not anymore. "It was no secret it was really tough for him at first," says close friend Holden, who like other pals feared that Quaid, a veteran of alcohol and cocaine addictions who went sober in 1990, might fall off the wagon under the strain. "I asked him that," says Holden. "And I'll never forget, he looked me in the eye and said, 'You know, why would I want to make it hurt any more and make it worse?'"

Why indeed? On a trip to Italy and Spain last month to promote his movie Frequency, Quaid gave every appearance of a man having a good time. The actor's itinerary -- which according to local press included making friends with a former Italian flight attendant, a Spanish TV personality and an aspiring model, Jenifer Solano, 22, whom he met at a Madrid disco -- seemed worthy of Don Juan. 

Back home, says Holden, Quaid is finding comfort in his son, with whom "he spends an enormous amount of time." For now, Crowe, who was scheduled for an operation on a shoulder injury he sustained while rehearsing for his role as a circus performer in Jodie Foster's movie Flora Plum, will remain in Sydney. Ryan returned to L.A. early last week. But friends don't expect the pair to stay apart for long. "They're both bright, talented, intelligent people," says a friend of Crowe's. "If they enjoy each other's company, then all power to them." 

-- ANNE-MARIE O'NEILL
-- SHELLEY GARE in Sydney, MICHELLE CARUSO, MICHAEL FLEEMAN, ELIZABETH LEONARD and PAULA YOO in Los Angeles, NINA BIDDLE in Madrid and ALEC MARR in Milan