Lead in - When Meg met Russell

Gladiator falls for a damsel in distress

She says he's amazing. Russell Crowe, for his part has provided the shoulder on which Meg Ryan has cried about the break-up of her long term marriage to Dennis Quaid.

But now, insiders are saying, the pair are spending as much time together off the set of their new $150million movie as they are on it.

In Proof of Life Crowe plays a hostage negotiator who falls for the wife of the man he is trying to free. Ryan plays the wife.

She said of her co-star before filming began: "Russell is, let's face it, amazing."

Last night an industry insider said, "They immediately clicked and became good friends. It looks as though he has been a shoulder to cry on for Meg as her marriage to Dennis crumbles."

Ryan and Crowe, 36, have been seen in the West End on two ocassions in the past week and were openly affectionate during a private concert. A witness said, "They appeared totally relaxed in each other's company. And they were clearly enjoying themselves immensely."

Earlier this week Ryan was out on the town in London with Crowe, holding his hand and chatting intently.

Ryan's behaviour raised eyebrows becaues her nine year marriage to Quaid was though to be one of the strongest in Hollywood.

But yesterday the 38 year old actor, star of "When Harry Met Sally", and her husband announced they were splitting up. They actually seperated six weeks ago but were forced to make the news public after speculation about Ryan's growing friendship with Crowe.

Crowe, who received an Oscar nomination this year for "The Insider" dated Nicole Kidman before her marriage to Tom Cruise, and dated Sharon Stone.

How Gladiator wooed an American Beauty

This is the first picture of America's sweetheart, Meg Ryan, with Australia's bad-boy, Russell Crowe.

They were photographed leaving a restaurant in London's swanky Park Lane with the normally upfront Crowe looking coy and walking a few steps behind Ryan.

News that the talented pair are a couple has reverberated through the celebrity circuit in London, where they have been filming Proof of Life  together, and caused a ruckus in Hollywood where Ryan reigns supreme as the quintessential girl next door.

After reports of Crowe and Ryan's romance began appearing in British papers last week Ryan, 38, announced that she was seperating from her actor husband, Dennis Quaid, 46, after almost 10 years as a celebrity pairing. They have an 8 year old son Jack.

News of the bust up stunned those close to the couple, who believed Ryan and Quaid had one of the most stable marriages in Hollywood.

Industry sources said that the chemistry between Ryan and Crowe, 36, was instantaneous.

"Meg and Russell are relieved this is out in the open," a friend said. "They are extremely cloes and he has been a real shoulder to cry on after what's been going on with Dennis."

Ryan was first spotted arriving at Crowe's trendy Covent Garden Hotel in February, before the shoot moved to Ecuador.

"She and Russell are incedibly fond of each other and are sick of sneaking around and playing cat and mouse," the friend adds. "They just click. She feels young again and they have been having a wonderful time in London. It's as if Meg is a new woman."

Recently Ryan and Crowe were also spotted partying backstage at a secret gig by David Bowie. They were dancing together and making no attempt to hide their affection for each other. At one stage she sat with her head in the New-Zealander's lap," one report said. "They were dancing and seemed very close.It was obvious there was real chemistry."

A crew member on the set of Proof of Life  said Ryan had eyes only for Crowe. "We often saw them brushing hands and even cuddling. It wasn't in the way co-stars normally would - it was obvious they were falling for each other big time," the crew member said. "They were very affectionate in a warm gentle way - like mature lovers."

In the movie Crowe plays a hostage negotiator who falls for the wife of the man he is trying to free. The wife is played by Ryan. Proof of Life is due for release in the US in December.

Despite their different on screen persona Ryan and Crowe are more compatible than many would believe. Crowe, a bona-fide movie star after the success of  Gladiator has a tough as nails reputation. "I have heard he is very difficult to work with," Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot producer Mark Gordon told the Sunday Telegraph "But he is an incredibly talented leading man. nd that's what Hollywood will always be looking for."

Ryan captured the romance market with Sleeping in Seattle, and You've Got Mail. In bother movies she starred opposite Tom Hanks.

Yet despite the pleated skirts and twinsets, the petulant pouts and happy endings, Ryan, a $30-million-per-picture star knows her clout and plays hardball.

"Meg Ryan knows what she wants and knows how to get it," You've Got Mail  director, Nora Ephron told Sunday Telegraph. "She's very direct."

Last year Ryan said, "I've been in this business since I was 17. I'm very straight forward  -  I like people to talk very straight to me and I like to be able to be straight with them."

The two-timing Gladiator
By Michele Martin

THEY have been billed as Hollywood's hottest couple... but last night the very public romance of Meg Ryan and Gladiator star Russell Crowe was looking decidely shaky.

For it emerged that soon after kissing Meg goodnight on Tuesday at a party following a David Bowie concert, Crowe turned his attentions to a lookalike of the Sleepless In Seattle actress.

After plying BBC researcher Jennie Dempster with drink, showering her with praise and telling her he was single, he whisked her into the back of his chauffeur-driven car and smooched with her into the small hours.

Jennie said: 'I had a lovely evening with Russell after he offered me a lift home. We spent quite a lot of time talking and I liked the fact that you could have a proper chat with him, despite his fame.

'We did kiss but that's all . . . although now I wish I hadn't done even that.' Meg and her actor-husband Dennis Quaid split up six weeks ago after nine years of marriage.

But Jennie revealed: 'No one at Tuesday's BBC party suspected that Russell and Meg were an item. I wouldn't have done it if I'd known.

'I never saw them holding hands or kissing and I was shocked next day to read they were a couple.

'To go out with someone as stunning as Meg Ryan and jeopardise it for a fling is just silly.

'Russell's a big flirt, he's very confident and he's enjoying all the attention he's getting from women since Gladiator. I feel a bit gullible and wish I hadn't kissed him.' Meg and Crowe have been spending as much time together off set as they have on since they began filming their new movie, Proof Of Life, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire last month.

They were pictured at London's fashionable Mirabelle restaurant, at the Met Bar, shopping in Piccadilly and at the Bowie concert at BBC Broadcasting House.

But also there at the Bowie concert was 26-year-old Jennie, a BBC 'meeter and greeter'.

Crowe and Meg had arranged to arrive separately before joining each other on the VIP balcony. And Jennie tipped as a new BBC TV presenter had the job of showing them to their seats.

One guest said: 'There was one seat left which was taken, rather unchivalrously, by Russell, leaving Meg on the floor at his feet. She leaned back to rest against his chair but they didn't kiss or touch.' Afterwards, Bowie asked to meet Crowe and Meg in his dressing room and Jennie took them there.

The two men hit it off immediately, leaving Meg talking to Lulu and Anita Pallenberg.

Meg left at 11.30pm because she had an early shoot the next day but Crowe stayed on. 'By now, Jennie had had a few beers,' said a friend, 'and someone dared her to ask Russell to the crew party at a hotel in Liverpool Street.

She was surprised when he said "Yes" and amazed when he asked her into his chauffeur-driven car to show him the way.

'As they left the group, he began flirting with her, asking her about her life in London and playfully pulling the clips from her hair.

'When they got to the bar he ordered them a beer with a double bourbon and Coke chaser and pulled her into a quiet corner. They talked for an hour and it was clear to everyone they liked each other.

Jennie was hugely flattered. He told her he was single and asked if she had a boyfriend. When she said no, he told her she was far too pretty to be on her own.

'She realised he was being more than friendly when he slipped his hand round her waist and under her T-shirt. People were astonished and none more so than Jennie. At about 2.30am, he paid his GBP 360 bar bill and offered her a lift home.

Soon he was stretched out on the back seat with his head in her lap and his feet out of the window.

'Then he put her hand down the front of his shirt and kissed her on the lips. It wasn't the most earth-shattering kiss because they were both drunk and I think she was overawed to find herself in the arms of Hollywood's sexiest man.' But there was disappointment in store as the car pulled up outside his hotel in Piccadilly. Crowe said it had been a wonderful evening but he would not invite her up as he was exhausted.

'Jennie was a bit hurt so she tried to make a joke by saying he was no one special. He looked furious and said, "No, I am a somebody, I worked f****** hard to be. I am not a nobody".' 

'Then he asked his chauffeur to take her home and said goodnight.

He has her number but he hasn't phoned and he probably won't now that Meg knows about it.' Jennie said: 'I hope Meg forgives him and it works out for them.'

LOVEY-dovey movie stars Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe have shown the world they are an item by linking arms as they left a party. At first tousle-haired Meg, 38, was reluctant to be seen with Gladiator hunk Russell, 36. But then he grabbed her arm and said: "Don't worry, it has already been in The Sun." We revealed last week that the pair were secretly seeing each other while filming together in Britain. 

And the following day Meg admitted her nine-year marriage to actor Dennis Quaid was over. Meg and Russell had been to a dinner hosted by Mission:Impossible 2 star Tom Cruise in London's Soho House club after the film's premiere. 

A source at the club said: "They were all over each other." 

Infidelity Talk Targets Ryan, Quaid

Though Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid said that they hoped the press would respect their privacy while they are in the midst of a painful public separation, that now sounds like wishful thinking. 

Observers are all abuzz over Ryan's possible new squeeze, Russell Crowe, and now the scenario's gotten messier with rumors of Quaid's roving eye. According to the July 17 issue of People magazine, several women who were extras on the set of Quaid's football drama, Any Given Sunday, complained that he was "very aggressive" and frequently pawed at their padding. 

Cara Kinder, who plays a cheerleader in the movie, tells People she had to fight Quaid off several times, claiming he frequently invited her back to his room at the Four Seasons Hotel. Two weeks into filming, she says she was riding across the set in Quaid's golf cart when he pulled over, dragged her into a nearby restroom, and began kissing her. 

"I was freaking out, thinking, 'I can't believe he's doing this and he's married,'" Kinder said. "I said, 'We better get back,' and he agreed." Sounds like the cameras should have been rolling, don't it? 

Quaid denies Kinder's charges. His half-brother, Buddy, puts it this way: "Compared to Meg Ryan, why would you want anybody else?" He adds that the news of the couple's split was "a shocker." 

Ryan has her own infidelity rumors to fight, as every waiter, busboy, and concertgoer in London seems anxious to report on spotting the actress with co-star Crowe. The two reportedly bonded on the set of their upcoming drama, Proof of Life, and some say that their newfound "friendship" drove a wedge between peppy Ryan and her husband. 

People reports that Crowe and Ryan were seen making a pathway from his London hotel to hers at 1 a.m. A hotel employee tells the mag that the two were busted in a private room off the lobby "cuddling, hugging, kissing." A waiter in Ecuador, where Proof began shooting, says he served the two photogenic stars vodka tonics while they nuzzled in the bar. "[Crowe] would touch her hair and stroke her face," he claims. 

Just one day before Ryan and Quaid issued a public statement confirming their separation, she and Crowe attended a David Bowie concert in London. Ryan was seen watching the intimate show, reportedly with her head in Crowe's lap, sparking a flurry of speculation.

Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan -- and Russell Crowe 

The Manhattan businessman sitting on the Concorde couldn't believe his eyes. He had just settled into his seat for a June 19 flight from New York to London when the man next to him gave him a nudge. "Hey, look who's sitting two rows up from us," he said. Indeed, the dark sunglasses were no disguise for the star beneath the famous mop of tousled blonde hair. Getting an up-close glimpse of Meg Ryan was a mild surprise; what happened next was startling. The man seated beside Ryan was not her husband, actor Dennis Quaid, but another of Hollywood's charming rogues: Gladiator star Russell Crowe. Earlier this year, Crowe and Ryan had spent more than a month in Ecuador filming the romantic drama Proof of Life. After a brief hiatus they were heading to London to shoot extra scenes. "He was leaning over her, kissing her on the neck and stroking her hair -- and it went on that way the whole flight," says the businessman. "They were definitely very affectionate and flirtatious. It was certainly more than you'd want your wife or girlfriend doing with another man," he adds. "The guy next to me and I, we were just like, 'I guess that's what goes on in Hollywood.' "

Quaid was "devastated" at news 

Thus the June 28 announcement came, says Quaid's half brother Buddy, 25, "as a shocker." Though the official statement (released while Ryan was in London with Jack and Quaid was alone in Santa Monica) said the two had been separated for six weeks and called the decision "mutual and amicable," those close to the couple tell a different story. According to an industry insider, the split was accelerated by Ryan's deepening relationship with New Zealand native Crowe, 36. Though one close business associate of Quaid's was aware that the Ryan-Crowe friendship was growing -- by early June their displays of affection in Ecuador and later in London were barely masked -- he said nothing until learning in late June that the British tabloids were set to break the story. At that point he alerted another colleague of Quaid's, who then called the actor to give him the heads-up. "He was devastated," says the source. "He almost started crying."

Some say Quaid flirted constantly on set

Last weekend, though, there was no sign of the family at their two-story wood-frame house, where a flying flag is not just a holiday gesture but a full-time ornament that made the family feel, Ryan said a few months ago, "like the first settlers." Down a lane the skeleton of a 6,000-sq.-ft. mansion in mid-construction is a reminder of a dream home now sadly out of date. Though friends are unable to say just how or when things began to unwind, there were indications of trouble as early as last year. According to sources on the Dallas set of Any Given Sunday, something with Quaid (who played a veteran quarterback) seemed amiss during the shoot in February 1999. Known in the industry as a flirt -- "He's kind of like the cute popular guy in high school, smiling and winking at you," says one Sunday crew member -- some say he went too far. According to one set source, a former employee of the north Texas film commission, several women hired as extras complained that he was "pawing" them: "They said he was very aggressive, touching them and grabbing their butts." Cara Kinder, 21, a broadcast-journalism major at the University of Northern Texas in Denton who played a cheerleader, says the pawing went further still. Though flattered by his compliments, she says she rebuffed several invitations to his room at the Four Seasons resort. But about two weeks into filming, Kinder says, she accepted a ride across the set on his golf cart "because I was tired." At a secluded spot by a public rest room, she says, "he pulled me out of the cart and into the rest room and started kissing me. I was freaking out, thinking, 'I can't believe he's doing this and he's married.' I said, 'We better get back,' and he agreed." Later she told her mother, who said, "Cara Ann Kinder, you better stay away from that man." She did. "Afterwards, every time I'd see him and Meg in a magazine, I felt bad. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I kissed your husband.' " The woman's account, says Quaid, "is completely untrue. I categorically deny it." 

Some who know Quaid find such stories hard to believe. Says his ex-wife, Soles: "Yes, Dennis flirts, but during the Meg years he never took it beyond that. His flirtation is part of his charm." Agrees Buddy: "Compared to Meg Ryan, why would you want anybody else? He adores her." Indeed, when Buddy visited with the family in L.A. in March, he did not notice anything unusual. "Every relationship has ups and downs," he says. "But as far as I could tell, everything was normal." 

Friends and family are trying to make sense of it all. "In the past I thought it would be Meg who would be disgusted if Dennis ever did that to her," says Buddy. But given reports of her overseas actions, he's no longer sure. "She's a very complex, smart, strong-willed woman. If she wants something, she's going to get it." For the moment, though, what she and Quaid want most is to get their son through the split intact. When Quaid spoke to Soles last week, he asked advice about a child psychologist. Until he finds one, she says, he can share his own best therapy: a morning of fly-fishing in Montana -- and hope. "There's no talk of divorce yet," she says. "I know Dennis would be extremely happy if they resolved it." Like others, Buddy can only anticipate the very best for them. "My brother and Meg are a real couple. They've been together a long time in a business where there's so much temptation," he says. "There's a possibility for everything to work itself out. If Dennis and Meg are willing, it's not too late yet." 

-- KAREN S. SCHNEIDER
-- MICHELLE CARUSO, TOM CUNNEFF, MARK DAGOSTINO, MICHAEL FLEEMAN, VICKI SHEFF-CAHAN and PAULA YOO in Los Angeles, SUE MILLER and KC BAKER in New York City, VICKIE BANE in Livingston, CHRIS COATS in Dallas, EILEEN FINAN and LIZ CORCORAN in London and JEANNE DEQUINE in Quito

Quaid met Ryan (with costar Martin Short) on the set of 1987's Innerspace.

 

Actor Griffin Dunne once said the pair (in '93's Flesh and Bone) "know and trust each other."

 

Austraila isn't the only place gripped by the romantic wanderings of New Zealand-born, Coffs Harbour resident, Russell Crowe. In the New York Post, columnist Liz Smith marvels at all the Crowe-inspired gossip: "First he was rebuffed by Winona Ryder at a Hollywood party (whilst she was still with Matt Damon), then he was rumoured to be romancing Jodie Foster, now he is being called 'the other man' in the very surprising break-up of Dennis Quid and Meg Ryan. It's taken Russell quite some time to hit his stride as a star, but now this Gladiator is swinging his sword for all it is worth."

When Meg Met Russell

Movie sexpot Meg Ryan has split with husband of nine years Denis Quaid, but it seems she is finding plenty to keep herself busy. Meg’s publicist made a shock announcement of the split with Dennis, who Meg married on Valentine’s Day in 1991 after helping him overcome a battle with cocaine. Their parting was described as ‘mutual and amicable’.

While Dennis, 46, is said to be at home in America caring for the couple’s eight year old son Jack, Meg has been in London filming her new movie with co-star Russell Crowe, Proof of Life.

But there don’t seem to be any tears over the collapse of her marriage, with Meg spending nights out on the town with Russell. Walking down London’s exclusive Park Lane, after leaving the trendy Met Bar, Meg pulled her coat together and stared at the ground as Russell followed closely behind, incredibly coy about being photographed with his new co-star. Minutes earlier, vivacious Meg, who achieved international stardom after her hilarious fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally, chatted and laughed over a drink with bachelor Russell, 36, in the exclusive bar.

Meg, 38, dressed down for the date, wearing a plain black outfit and hardly any make-up. The following night, Russell once again joined Meg at a secret concert starring David Bowie, where the 53-year-old showman performed songs he’s made famous during a 30-year musical career. The gig at London’s Broadcasting House, to be shown on the BBC later this year, was followed by a star-studded party which included Meg and Russell.

Aussie actor Russell Crowe has found himself at the centre of the shock split between Hollywood super-couple Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid.

Just days after a publicist for the couple announced that their 12-year marriage was all but over, rumours started spreading that Meg and Russell had enjoyed more than a close friendship on the London set of their latest movie, Proof of Life. In the film, Russell plays a hostage negotiator who falls for the wife, played by Meg, of the man he’s supposed to save.

Russell’s recently been romantically linked with both Jodie Foster and Jason Donovan’s old flame, model Erica Baxter, but while Meg and Russ spend much of the tense on-screen time together, set insiders say they spent much of their time away from the camera together as well. During the hectic London shoot, they shopped in Piccadilly, dined together at the trendy Mirabelle restaurant with Meg and Dennis’s eight-year-old son, Jack, and went to see David Bowie perform live in concert.

For two such close friends, perhaps what was most surprising was that Meg and Russell tried desperately to avoid being seen together. They always made sure they arrived for event separately, and kept their heads down when together in public.

“Russell and Meg have been trying to keep a low-profile,” a source from the Proof of Life film set says.

“Whenever there are photographers in the street, they seem to part or drop their heads. But they are together all the time and have been hitting all the trendy London restaurants and bars. At the Bowie gig, they stayed together for ages afterwards.”

But news of Meg’s break-up six weeks ago still comes as a surprise to many. Ever since a determined Meg helped Dennis kick his drug addiction soon after they met, the couple’s marriage has seemed one of the strongest in the fickle entertainment world.

Until recently, it appeared the pair were still very much in love. “I just love it that we can simply drive around in the car and still crack up about stuff,” Meg once said of their relationship. “I just ask him what he’s looking at. And it’s fun, just that.”

Meg dumps Dennis and dates Russell

As Meg enjoys intimate nights out with Russell Crowe, the movie star announces that she and husband Dennis Quaid are splitting up.

(more to come)

Meg fell for Crowe's chivalrous charms

SYDNEY: Gladiator hero Russell Crowe wooed Hollywood star Meg Ryan with champagne, roses and his gentlemanly manner, according to Australian women's magazines. Ryan is also reported to have forgiven the New Zealand-born actor for romancing a blonde BBC researcher just days after their own relationship was outed.

In Los Angeles, a court source said yesterday that Ryan's husband,  actor Dennis Quaid, had filed for divorce after nine years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences".

The saga of the marriage break-up and Ryan's budding relationship with Crowe is the cover story in most of Australia's gossip glossies this week.

Woman's Day quoted friends as saying there was discord between Quaid, 46, and Ryan, 38, long before Crowe came on the scene.

"Meg was bored with the marriage," one friend said.

"Russell's only 36, but it's obvious he's got that spark, that get-up-and-go she really needs in a man."

Ryan and Crowe, who are working together on a film called Proof of Life, have been spotted lately at some of London's top restaurants.

Another friend said Ryan revealed that Crowe made sure there were red roses and her favourite Cristal champagne at the table when they went out for dinner.

"He makes me laugh and he's so affectionate," Ryan reportedly told the friend.

"He surprises me with jewellery and little gifts. I love that in a man."

Another magazine, New Idea, quoted close friend Ruth Lehman as saying Crowe had told Ryan he was ready to settle down and she was just the kind of woman he was looking for.

RYAN RAPT
"He makes me laugh and he's so affectionate," says Meg Ryan of Russell Crowe. "She was taken with Russell's charming and gentlemanly ways," Ms Lehman said.

But the magazine also said Hollywood insiders were bemused that everything Ryan had despised in Quaid before their marriage “his drinking and loutish behaviour" was also associated with her new man.

After Crowe was seen kissing BBC researcher Jennie Dempster in a London bar and then giving her a lift home, Ryan's mum, Susan Jordan, pleaded with her daughter to forget him.

"Meg doesn't want to be tying herself down to a guy like this," she said. "The alarm bells are already ringing."

However, New Idea said, Crowe made a "grovelling apology" and the couple had smoothed things over.

Meanwhile, an extortion case arising from a brawl involving Crowe on the New South Wales north coast last November returned to Coffs Harbour Local Court this week and was adjourned for a further fortnight.

Police allege former Canterbury rugby representative Philip Cropper, 35, now of Sydney, and two others stole a security video of the disturbance outside a Coffs Harbour bar.

The men are also accused of trying to extort $A200,000 ($NZ258,765) from Crowe in return for keeping the footage secret. - NZPA

I Love Him

After months of playing cat and mouse, the world’s hottest couple, Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe have finally admitted they are in love.

The couple set tongues wagging when they snubbed the glittering premiere of M:I-2, opting instead for a romantic dinner.***

But with Russell’s arm around his new love, he and Meg emerged from a London restaurant defiant, as Meg shouted to photographers; “I don’t care, you can do pictures – I love him!”

Despite the rain and freezing chill of the London evening, the couple chatted and posed together – as these latest pictures how – then declared their love. 

Back at home, though, Meg’s estranged husband Dennis Quaid has told friends he’s furious with Meg, after warning her to stay away from the Aussie bad boy.

He begged her not to make the romantic movie Proof of Life, in which she plays the wife of a kidnapped businessman. In a case of life imitating art, Russell is the hostage negotiator who falls in love with Meg’s character despite the fact that she is married.

Dennis’ instincts from the beginning were that Meg would be smitten with the man she describes as ‘the next Mel Gibson’ and was concerned they would have an affair.

But Meg refused and Dennis declared their marriage over.

Hollywood insiders are bemused that everything Meg despised in Dennis before their marriage – the drinking and loutish hellraiser behaviour – are now her new lover’s trademark.

Meg’s friends and family have also expressed their concern about her new love. 

After British newspapers reported Russell kissing blonde BBC television researcher Jennie Dempster in a London bar just days after his relationship with Meg was outed, Meg’s mum Susan Jordan made a heartfelt plea to her daughter to forget her new man.

“Meg doesn’t want to be tying herself down to a guy like this,” she said. “The alarm bells are ringing already.”

“Meg is family-oriented and dotes on her son Jack. But this guy Crowe seems to be a bachelor boy through and through. Dennis was as solid a family man as you can get.”

But Russell made a grovelling apology to the stunning actor and the couple have patched things up.

Thought Meg and Russell’s relationship has only just become public, it has been going on for months, developing as the pair started shooting their new movie together.

Whispers of their relationship began when Russell took Meg as his date to a pre-Oscars lunch in March. And while filming has taken them to Poland and now England, Dennis has stayed at their Montana ranch caring for their eight-year-old son Jack. According to friends, Meg has been yearning to get out and have fun while her husband, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, is happy to live a simple life.

Heartbroken Dennis has been crying to actor friend James Woods and confessed that Meg told him; “You don’t hear me any more, Russell does. The passion has gone and I feel it’s not going to come back”

She also told her husband of nine years; “You can keep everything, you can have the house, I don’t want anything but out.”

And just to rub salt into Denis’ wounds, Meg has described to close friend Ruth Lehman how Russell wooed her with a candlelit champagne dinner, telling her he was ready to settle down and that she was just the kind of girl he’d been looking for.

“She was taken with Russell’s charming and gentlemanly ways,” Ruth says.

Dennis, 46, is said to be inconsolable over the split, He won’t eat or sleep and refuses to leave the house.

His friend actor Randy Jordan said “Dennis is still numb. He loves Meg dearly, but he’s not going to sit back and wait while she’s running around London with Russell. But he’s not the type to give in. He’s crazy about that woman.”
 

Sue Smethurst in Sydney
Cathy Griffin LA Bureau Chief
Roger Kasper London Bureau Chief

"Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe proved they were good sports at Tuesday's London premiere of Cruise's "Mission: Impossible 2." The guys spent more than 20 minutes meeting and greeting 3,000 admirers chanting "Tom, Tom, Tom" outside the theater. Tom even answered a cell phone belonging to one of the attendees -- much to the surprise of the teen's mother, who was on the receiving end. Crowe skipped the post-screening party but Tom danced part of the night the night away..." and the photographic evidence available to immediately disprove this point...

GLAD ‘E ATE SO MUCH?
STORY Monique Butterworth

The once buff Russell Crowe is showing a fondness for too much of the good life – but that hasn’t stopped Meg Ryan from wanting him.

This is the ‘gladiator’ body that has Meg Ryan all hot and bothered.  Russell Crowe stripped down to reveal his “Maximus” physique for a  poolside scene in Proof of Life, the romantic drama he’s starring in with Meg, who announced the end of her nine-year marriage to actor Dennis Quaid last week.

The fleshy heart-throb, known for his party ways, has lost his rock-hard Gladiator body, and despite trying a few poolside pushups, he looked more comfortable puffing a cigarette than staying toned.

Russell, who plays a hostage negotiator who falls in love with the wife (Meg) of the man he is trying to free, became entangled in a real-life romance with his co-star while on location in Ecuador.

The pair, now filming at London’s Pinewood Studios, have done little to keep their fling secret.  They’ve been seen shopping in Piccadilly, at David Bowie’s gig, dining with Meg’s 8-year-old son, Jack, and kissing at a restaurant.

Meg actually split from Dennis six weeks ago.  Sources say she started seeing Russell only after the split was agreed.  Friends say she and Dennis drifted apart because they are so different.  “She’s a serious art collector.  Dennis plays golf and watches football.”

Rumours about Dennis’s behaviour on his latest film, Any Given Sunday, didn’t help.  Set insiders say the actor propositioned several extras, but Dennis is apparently devastated about Meg’s close relationship with Russell.  US reports say he “almost started crying” after hearing stories that they were seen kissing and cuddling on a Concorde flight.

Dennis’s ex-wife, PJ Soles, spoke to him after the split was announced and told a US magazine, “He’s devastated by the thought of any separation – mostly because of their son.”

Meanwhile, if Meg’s serious about Russell, she’ll have to keep a close eye on his flirting.  Even as the pair were being billed as Hollywood’s hottest couple, Russell was wooing another woman.

After he kissed goodnight to Meg at a party following an invitation-only David Bowie gig, where the two looked very much together – rumour has it a seat shortage meant Meg sat at his feet with her head in his lap – Russell turned to music researcher Jennie Dempster.

The actor flirted with Jennie openly and kissed her at the bar and slipped his hand under her blouse to fondle her breasts.

“Russell’s a big flirt, he’s very confident and enjoying all the attention he’s getting from women since Gladiator.  I feel a bit gullible,” says Jennie.  “We did kiss, but that’s all … now I wish I hadn’t done that.”

Russell paid his $1000 bar tab and offered Jennie a lift home in his limo.  As the car pulled up outside his hotel, Jennie was surprised when he said it had been a wonderful evening but he wouldn’t invite her up, as he was exhausted.

Jennie says, “He asked his chauffeur to drive me home.  He has my number but he hasn’t phoned.  He probably won’t, now Meg knows about it.”

Russell’s indiscretion hasn’t cooled his relationship with Meg.  The pair were spotted together again just last week.

Russell has been linked to a number of glamorous women, including Jodie Foster, Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman, Winona Ryder, Gina Gershon and model Erica Baxter, and his flirting is notorious.

The most recent report from London had Russell sending an expensive bottle of wine over to three girls dining at a trendy restaurant.  The recipient of the bottle turned to see a “smug-looking” Russ sitting across the room.  Clearly having heard of his ways, the woman drank the wine and left without even thanking him.

By Jeannie Wall

Meg Ryan’s friends are coming to her defense in her messy public breakup with hubby Dennis Quaid. Friends of the “Sleepless in Seattle” star are saying that Ryan — who has been spotted looking cozy with “Proof of Life” co-star Russell Crowe — has been unfairly cast as a wanton woman.

“MEG AND RUSSELL were definitely just friends at first,” says one Ryan supporter. “In fact, Meg brought Russell home to meet Dennis because she thought the two would really hit it off.” But, says the Meg ally, things have been bumpy between Meg and Dennis for a while, and recently got worse. 

“According to Meg, Dennis has been behaving irresponsibly, and has been spending more time lately with [brother] Randy, who she considers to be a bad influence.” Then, says the friend, the situation became “unbearable” for Ryan. “Dennis went too far. Meg was furious. She took Jack [their son] and left.” The friend says she went to cry on Crowe’s shoulder, “and the relationship developed from there.”

Quaid’s office didn’t return calls and Ryan’s spokeswoman had no comment on the story.