Meg Ryan Reflects on Being Labeled America's Sweetheart: 'It's 100% Projection' (Exclusive)

"It’s really not personal," says the actress, who stars in, directed and cowrote 'What Happens Later.' "And I am so lucky because I can feel a lot of affection"

Meg Ryan feels nothing but gratitude when it comes to being labeled America's Sweetheart.

After her big break in 1986’s Top Gun, she became the queen of romantic comedies following her beloved roles in films like 1989's When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle in 1993 (written and cowritten/directed by the late Nora Ephron respectively).

"The idea of a movie star is 100 percent projection," Ryan, 61, explains in this week's PEOPLE cover story. "So it’s really not personal, frankly. And I am so lucky because I can feel a lot of affection in the world. People tell me that when they were recovering from an illness or surgery, they watch those movies. I don’t feel like there’s been some negative thing."

Now Ryan is returning to the big screen with a new romantic comedy What Happens Later, in which she stars alongside David Duchovny, directed and cowrote. She also dedicated the film to Ephron. "I feel like I have so many blessings in my life, really because of her," she says. "I just wanted to say thank you."

Despite her 8-year, self-imposed hiatus from Hollywood (her last film was her directorial debut, Ithaca, in 2015), Ryan insists she wasn't nervous to be back on a set. "I really wasn’t. David and I did some Zoom calls before the movie started [because] I didn’t really know him all that well," she says.

"I think you prepare when you do movies just so that you can throw a lot of your preparation away," she says. "Whoever gave me that advice, that was great advice, to know as much as you can know so that you can just toss it all aside. You’re always just going to go for whatever feels like life, whatever feels alive, and you have to make room for that."

For more of Ryan's exclusive interview, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Related: Meg Ryan Makes Her Rom-Com Return in First Trailer for 'What Happens Later' with David Duchovny

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Having filmed primarily in an art museum in Bentonville, Ark., Ryan calls the whole production "magical."

"It’s a little roller-coaster ride between these two people, and it asks the question in a way: Will they or won’t they end up together?" she adds. "These are people who broke one another’s hearts way back when. And I think what they gained is that they have gratitude for that.”

What Happens Later hits theaters on Nov. 3.

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