Meg Ryan bares herself emotionally and physically in director Jane Campion's In the Cut, playing Frannie Avery, a lonely writing teacher.

The movie scene one connects with Meg Ryan when it comes to sexual desire is played strictly for laughs. In the popular romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally, Ryan's character Sally acts out an orgasm in a packed restaurant while Billy Crystal's character Harry watches dumbfounded. Ryan is at her cutesy best in the scene -- all knowing smirk and baby doll blonde curls.

The latest movie sex scene with Ryan, where Mark Ruffalo's homicide detective takes her to bed in director Jane Campion's erotic drama In the Cut, involves aggressive foreplay, graphic dialogue, oral sex and matter-of-fact nudity. For Ryan, it's a drastic about-face.

Ryan bares herself emotionally and physically for director Jane Campion's erotic drama, In the Cut, and the film's sex scenes are attracting much of the attention if for no other reason than Ryan has never done one as explicit before.

"Those scenes, each moment, down to the placing of your hands, are well choreographed," Ruffalo says, speaking at a Toronto hotel. "But as we're doing it; Jane is yelling directives at you like, 'Be a man, Mark! Engage her!' and I would say, 'OK, Jane ...' "

Asked what he thought Campion meant when she told him to be a man, Ruffalo laughs.

"I think it was the confidence, the ease and steady, methodical confidence that shows he knows what he's doing."

That's one side of the titillating story. Ryan, speaking later in the day, has a different take.

"He's so full of shit," Ryan blurts out, speaking later that day. "I don't remember that. Really? Be a man?"

It's the day after In the Cut has premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, and Ryan has come to town with director Campion and cast members Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh to promote the film.

Based on Susanna Moore's novel and boasting a screenplay co-written by Moore, In the Cut tells the story of Frannie Avery (Ryan), a writing teacher in New York City who studies street slang. Her lonely life changes after she meets a rugged NYPD detective (Ruffalo) who's investigating the murder of a woman near her apartment.

In the Cut claims a serial killer plot at the core of its story, but Campion mostly talks about the romantic myth of finding a loving man and the burdensome stranglehold it has on women when describing the film.

"Jane kept saying we were going to kill romance in this movie, but I think she wanted to have love triumph over romance in this movie," Ryan says.

"This is a character with a lot of grief, who's heartbroken and has shrunk into herself. But the universe says you don't get to disappear; your soul is going to connect with this soul, and it will be unlikely and unexpected, but it will save you."

Ryan replaced Nicole Kidman, who was originally cast to play Frannie, and her involvement in the film continues to generate plenty of surprise. She achieved star status a long time ago. In the Cut is a career decision about showing audiences her dramatic chops. She wants to prove to people that she has the ability to play a "brave" character like Frannie.

When Harry Met Sally, a film successful enough to become part of the cultural zeitgeist, helped make Ryan into America's Sweetheart, along with her two films opposite Tom Hanks, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Yet her knack for comedy was not something Campion was aware of.

"Jane just saw French Kiss the other night on TV and said, 'You have some kind of facility for comedy,' " Ryan says, shaking her head in disbelief.

Ryan was born Margaret (and called "Peggy") 41 years ago; she grew up in Connecticut where she lived a lifestyle true to her girl-next-door image. She was a cheerleader and a homecoming queen before leaving to study journalism at New York University.

Ryan's mother was a casting agent and got her daughter a small role in the movie Rich and Famous. Her acting career gained momentum almost by happenstance. She played the wife of a wheelchair-bound psychotic in the daytime soap opera, As the World Turns, and the girlfriend to Anthony Edwards in the boys-and-fighter-jets adventure, Top Gun. She has handled dramatic roles before: the military drama Courage Under Fire, Flesh and Bone and a cokehead stripper in Hurlyburly but nothing with the complexity of In the Cut.

"I think the most exciting thing about life is the leaps of faith you take, whether successful or unsuccessful, and with casts it's always a leap of faith, and with Meg it was a greater one," Campion says. "I think she was the best leap of faith we could take."

Private dramas have heated up recently for Ryan. Her breakup with Dennis Quaid ended after nine years of marriage when her affair with actor Russell Crowe gained worldwide attention. She is estranged from her mother and, on the day of her interview, she sports a pair of inflamed lips that hint at recent collagen implants.

Ryan's involvement with In the Cut ensures worldwide media coverage and, for a small film, that's one of the best contributions she can bring. The upside is that she'll also earn some dramatic credibility.

"Meg is this incredibly talented thing; she's like a creature," says Jennifer Jason Leigh. "We've mostly seen these fun kooky characters from her, because she does it so well and effortlessly. Even in those things you see a powerhouse in there. ... I think she really wanted to do it. I think she wanted that experience, and the truth is there are not a lot of movies being made when you can do that anymore. It's not 1978. It's not even 1982. They're not making these movies anymore."

It's too early to determine if In the Cut is on its way to a successful release and plenty of year-end awards, although the film has opened successfully in New York and Los Angeles.

Films that speak of erotic passion are complex and difficult by nature. Yet, if there is one filmmaker skilled at telling erotic stories, Ryan and Ruffalo agree that it's Campion. For proof, you need only watch the scene in The Piano where Harvey Keitel strokes Holly Hunter's skin through a hole in her stockings.

A woman's touch is helpful when it comes to actresses seeking out chancy roles, and Ryan says she relied on Campion for emotional support. In the Cut is a women's drama, and it's important that the women remain in control.

"It's a dream for an actor to be in an environment," Ryan says, "and the camera is reading your mind, and the director is as interested in your interior life as you are and finds a way to express it. It's like listening to the breath inside your own head, instead of listening to someone else's breath. I have never done that type of acting before." ©