Meg Ryan Returns to the Oscars After 27 Years—Looks Unrecognizable

Hol­ly­wood loves a good come­back, and at the 2025 Oscars, all eyes were on Meg Ryan. The beloved rom-com queen made her grand return to the Acad­e­my Awards after 27 years, turn­ing heads with an ele­gant yet unex­pect­ed­ly sul­try fash­ion choice. But while fans were excit­ed to see her back on the red car­pet, some­thing about her appear­ance had peo­ple talk­ing.

Meg Ryan’s Stunning Red Carpet Return

On March 2, Meg Ryan made a rare red-car­pet appear­ance at the Oscars, look­ing glam­orous in a deep-red vel­vet gown. The strap­less design show­cased her time­less style, while the rich wine-col­ored fab­ric added an air of old Hol­ly­wood ele­gance. A dar­ing thigh-high slit intro­duced an unex­pect­ed edge, prov­ing that Ryan still knows how to make a state­ment.

Video: Meg Ryan Returns to Oscars for First Time in 27 Years With Must-See Red Car­pet Moment

Her look was a stark con­trast to her last Oscars appear­ance, where she opt­ed for a min­i­mal­ist black ensem­ble. This time, she embraced a soft­er, more roman­tic aes­thet­ic, with rosy cheeks and a glossy berry-toned lip that per­fect­ly com­ple­ment­ed the deep hues of her dress. She styled her sig­na­ture blonde locks in effort­less waves, bring­ing back mem­o­ries of her icon­ic roles in When Har­ry Met Sal­ly, You’ve Got Mail, and Sleep­less in Seat­tle.

A Long-Awaited Oscars Comeback

Beyond her fash­ion choice, Meg Ryan’s return to the Oscars was spe­cial for anoth­er reason—she wasn’t just attend­ing, she was pre­sent­ing. The actress took the stage to announce the cov­et­ed Best Pic­ture award, which went to Ano­ra. Adding to the nos­tal­gia, she reunit­ed with her When Har­ry Met Sal­ly co-star Bil­ly Crys­tal, send­ing long­time fans into a fren­zy.

Giv­en that Ryan has kept a rel­a­tive­ly low pro­file in recent years, see­ing her back in the spot­light was a major moment. But while many cel­e­brat­ed her return, oth­ers couldn’t help but notice some­thing dif­fer­ent.

Fans React to Meg Ryan’s Transformation

As soon as she stepped onto the red car­pet, social media buzzed with reac­tions to Meg Ryan’s appear­ance. Some fans were thrilled to see her look­ing refreshed and ele­gant.

“She looks amaz­ing! It seems like she reduced the fillers, and now she looks fan­tas­tic!” one admir­er com­ment­ed. Anoth­er added, “Very pret­ty! Her hair is perfect—just like the Meg we all loved.”

Video:

Meg Ryan’s Epic Come­back! 27 Years Lat­er at the Oscars And She Stole the Show!

How­ev­er, not every­one was con­vinced. Some view­ers felt that she looked almost unrec­og­niz­able, spark­ing a wave of spec­u­la­tion.

“That’s not Meg Ryan!” one Twit­ter user exclaimed. Anoth­er ques­tioned, “I wouldn’t have known who that was if they hadn’t said her name.”

While Hol­ly­wood stars often face scruti­ny over cos­met­ic pro­ce­dures, Ryan has been at the cen­ter of plas­tic surgery rumors for years. Many fans spec­u­lat­ed that she had pre­vi­ous­ly under­gone pro­ce­dures that altered her look, though some believe she may have toned them down in recent years.

Her Walk Sparked Concern Among Viewers

It wasn’t just her appear­ance that had peo­ple talking—her move­ment on stage also raised eye­brows. As Ryan walked across the Oscars stage, some noticed that she seemed to strug­gle slight­ly.

“Why is she walk­ing like she has a pros­thet­ic leg?” one view­er ques­tioned. Oth­ers expressed con­cern for her health, won­der­ing if some­thing was wrong.

Long­time fans may recall that Ryan has pre­vi­ous­ly opened up about a hip issue that affects her mobil­i­ty. In an old inter­view, she revealed that she walks with a slight limp due to a lin­ger­ing injury. This detail resur­faced as peo­ple tried to make sense of her move­ments at the Oscars.

The Pressure of Hollywood’s Beauty Standards

The mixed reac­tions to Meg Ryan’s appear­ance high­light a larg­er issue—Hollywood’s relent­less beau­ty stan­dards. Female celebri­ties, in par­tic­u­lar, face intense scruti­ny over aging, often feel­ing pres­sured to main­tain a youth­ful look in an indus­try that pri­or­i­tizes per­fec­tion.

Ryan has large­ly stepped away from the spot­light in recent years, which may have ampli­fied the shock fac­tor when she reap­peared at the Oscars. For many, it was a reminder of how much time has passed since her rom-com reign in the ’90s.

Meg Ryan’s Legacy Remains Untouchable

Meg Ryan wows in red at the 2025 Oscars. 💃 pic.twitter.com/ERZEKljUSV

— New York Post (@nypost) March 3, 2025