Ryan, who had become known for playing ingenues in romantic comedies, tried something new in 1994. She plays an alcoholic high school guidance counselor in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)

She was given the lead part of Clarice Starling in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs but turned it down because of the film’s graphic violence.

Ryan made her film debut in George Cukor's Rich and Famous; she then starred as Betsy Stewart in As the World Turns from 1982 to

The wife of Naval Flight Officer Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), she appeared in the 1986 film Top Gun as Carole Bradshaw.

Ryan, who had become known for playing ingenues in romantic comedies, tried something new in 1994. She plays an alcoholic high school guidance counselor in When a Man Loves a Woman (1994

Ryan's parents, Susan Jordan an actor and English teacher, and Harry Hyra (a math teacher), raised him in Fairfield, Connecticut. Her Polish grandfather was her father's father.

To supplement her commercials academic funding,

A 1979 Bethel High School alum, Ryan is now a successful businessman.

In the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, Ryan reteamed with Tom Hanks, and the two actors enjoyed massive success.