Meg Ryan has left Hollywood behind for a quiet life in New York City, she said.

Ryan, who was once an A-list actress, decided to leave the glitz and glamour of Hollywood behind and settle into a quiet life in New York City.

Ryan's friend, writer Delia Ephron, spoke candidly about the decision--and about the kind of person Meg Ryan is.

"Living in New York makes you different," Ryan's friend, writer Delia Ephron, told People magazine. "Los Angeles is just about movies. New York is about so much more than that, and so is Meg."

The two have been friends ever since Delia's sister, the late Nora Ephron, first directed Meg Ryan in her roles in Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail.

At the time, Meg Ryan was box office gold--and that gold was glittering in the spotlight. She scored top roles in popular romantic comedies in the 90s alongside stars like Tom Hanks.

However, Ryan's squeaky-clean image changed and she was tabloid fodder when her life fell apart.  Ryan's 10-year marriage to Dennis Quaid ended in 2000 amidst gossip that each had been unfaithful. At that, Ryan got out of the spotlight.

"My time as a scarlet woman was really interesting. As painful as it was, it was also incrediblely liberating. Now I was utterly free. I didn't have to care about what people thought," she said in 2008.

"I have gotten to do what I guess I secretly wanted to do. Be totally under the radar and live my life."

And live her life she did. She packed up and moved cross-country to New York to focus on raising her 8-year-old daughter, Daisy. Boyfriend and rocker John Mellencamp and Ryan live a quieter life together--although she still does a bit of acting work. During  2009, she was on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and she has also appeared on the web series Web Therapy as Karen Sharpe.

Mostly, though, Ryan says she spends her days "trying not to be recognized.