Meg and I just happy to be mates says Crowe

Russell Crowe today said he did not regret his affair with actress Meg Ryan but added that it was better they were no longer romantically involved.

The Gladiator star had a high-profile relationship with Ryan in 2000 as her marriage to Dennis Quaid ended, but the two split after just a few months together, ending a romance which was the talk of Hollywood.

But today he said the two were now friends and happier than when they were together.

He told American broadcaster ABC’s Primetime programme: ‘‘She is a very important person to me.

‘‘I think she is very special, but I do not necessarily think we were 100% ready for what being with each other was going to bring.’’

Crowe, 37, blamed their break-up on the spotlight in which their relationship took place as it had made a difference to their relationship.

Ryan, 40, was dubbed America’s sweetheart for her part in romantic films including When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, and the end of her marriage to Quaid shocked fans.

‘‘It is very easy intellectually to sit back and say it does not matter what such and such says,’’ said the actor, who is tipped for another Oscar nomination for his latest film, A Beautiful Mind.

‘‘If you feel you are under siege, whether or not you think that is the case intellectually, that takes away your ability to see clearly.

‘‘At the end of the day it is much better for the two of us that we are great friends.

‘‘We talked on the phone last night for two hours.

‘‘We started off being mates and we are still mates.’’

But Crowe said he felt he could not tell all about their relationship and added: ‘‘There are a lot of other considerations involved in this.

‘‘There are things that I have no right to comment on.

‘‘She is a wonderful girl.’’

And he told how he knew he could have walked away from Ryan when their relationship began but chose not to.

‘‘I had not planned to fall in love with her,’’ he said.

‘‘It just happened and it is a wonderful thing that it happened. In that moment I chose to walk towards love instead of walking away from it and I am sorry if I offended somebody.’’

And the New Zealand-born actor also said he would happily give up Hollywood in favour of his Australian ranch.

‘‘I have done this for so much of my life, it takes about 45 minutes at the end of each movie to ask myself should I pack it in,’’ he said.

‘‘I could do it now if you were asking my preference.’’

But he added that what kept him from quitting was the quest for a better performance.

‘‘I have not done a performance yet that I really like so I think I had better keep going until I get something right,’’ said the Oscar winner.