Some of Meg Ryan and David Duchovny’s Zoom conversations “found their way into the script” of What Happens Later.

In the romantic comedy, Ryan’s latest directorial effort, she plays Willa alongside Duchovny as her ex-lover Bill, who she reconnects with after they are snowed in at an airport overnight.

Chatting to Carol Burnett for Interview Magazine, the Sleepless in Seattle actress revealed that she received the script at the start of the pandemic and decided The X-Files actor would be the perfect Bill.

“I started working on it and over the course of a year and a half, the script evolved and David came on. We got to know each other over these Zoom calls and some of those conversations found their way into the script, too,” she recalled.

The 61-year-old explained that they built their characters’ chemistry over six months of Zoom conversations.

“We had talked for about six months, we got super familiar with the script – but we both got off-book really quickly. Sometimes we talk now and we go, ‘How did we even make it seem like we know each other?'” she joked.

Ryan admitted her co-star didn’t really need her direction and explained that she set the shots up beforehand so she could focus on acting with him.

“I want to direct again just so I can sit in the chair, because I’m sure there’s a lot of things I missed,” she confessed. “I hadn’t done a role in a really long time, but it was fun with David… I set up everything beforehand so that once we were there, it was just David and I trying to tell the truth.”

What Happens Later is due to be released in U.S. cinemas on 3 November.

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