Meg Ryan Admits She's 'Not Really Wired' for Fame: 'I've Had to Get More Comfortable with Attention' (Exclusive)

The 'What Happens Later' star and director says she stays grounded by "never, ever reading press about myself. You can’t Google; you can’t look. No."

Meg Ryan may have found success as America’s Sweetheart with beloved rom-coms like When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, but she has never been one to fully embrace the spotlight.

Having taken a "giant break" from Hollywood after her last film — her directorial debut Ithaca in 2015 — Ryan, 61, leads a quieter life at her house north of Los Angeles, where she fills her days with bike riding, house renovation and spending time with friends.

“I have fame that follows me around, but it comes in waves,” she explains to PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.

"And for the most part, it’s just people smiling and saying hi to me. I have such an unbelievable array of different types of people in my life and friends, and I just like the variety," says Ryan. "If your identity is about your next project, it’s a very insecure place to be.”

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

While she is now returning to the big screen with her new rom-com What Happens Later, which she stars in, directed and co-wrote, Ryan says she's never sought out the limelight.

"I’m not really somebody who set out to be a famous person at all,” she says. “I think I imagined that I would’ve been happier as someone in the audience. But this has put me in this place where I’ve had to get more comfortable with attention.”

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

The actress insists she’s “really not wired that way." Adds Ryan, "There’s privilege in it. And there’s also some really strange stuff about people thinking they can talk about you or write about you in a way that you just can’t relate to at all."

“And I see it has effects on people around me. People close to you, they get asked about you. It’s so bizarre. But I don’t get asked about them. If you want to make sense of it, it’ll take a while.”

For now, Ryan remains focused on staying true to herself — always.

“That feeling of being true to yourself, to me, is everything. It’s a giant priority of mine to not give that away,” she says. “The feeling of, you sleep at night, you know who you are, you feel good about those decisions, you feel good about the people in your life, you’re not going to give your authority away, your power away, you rest easy."

Ryan adds, "It’s taken a while for me to do that. But I’m in pretty solid possession of that now.”

What Happens Later is in theaters Nov. 3.

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