Rom-com queen Meg Ryan delighted a packed audience at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Tuesday, reprising some of her iconic roles in films such as “ When Harry Met Sally ” and “You’ve Got Mail” while also candidly discussing her life and career in the film industry since reaching the age of 60.

“I don’t often dwell on the negative aspects. I consider myself the luckiest person you'll ever meet,” she declared. “I don’t feel like I'm being deprived of anything. My life is a blessing, and I have the privilege of working with extraordinary individuals.”

Ryan is appearing at the Bosnian fest to receive a lifetime achievement award and to present her latest film, “What Happens Later,” a romantic comedy that she directed, wrote and executive produced, and in which she stars opposite David Duchovny as ex-lovers who find themselves stranded by a snowstorm.

She is also presenting a special screening of her 1998 romantic comedy hit, “You’ve Got Mail”, at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema, the same venue where it was showcased 25 years ago during the Sarajevo fest's fifth edition.

Tuesday's masterclass, facilitated by Academy Award-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović (“No Man’s Land”), commenced with a clip from the iconic deli scene in “When Harry Met Sally,” which elicited an equally enthusiastic response from the Sarajevo audience as it has for the past 35 years since its initial release.

Ryan recalled a humorous incident, claiming she hadn’t heard the phrase in a long time. She described her co-star Billy Crystal as “the ideal person to pretend having an orgasm with” and added with a deadpan expression, “It’s a peculiar thing to be known for.”

The actress recalled her early career in the ’80s on the long-running soap opera “As the World Turns” — a role she took to help fund her studies at NYU — before a memorable performance alongside Tom Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster “ Top Gun ” launched her into mainstream fame.

Her second film, “When Harry Met Sally,” was the first of a trio of career-defining roles in romantic comedies — including “You’ve Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle” — written by the late , great Nora Ephron , whom Ryan praised for her “way of creating an environment to bring out the best in people.”

“She made the set feel like a dinner party at her home. It was so fun,” she said. “She’d have cook-offs and taste-offs. Everyone on the set was interesting to talk to. It was like a dinner party you never wanted to leave.” Returning to her star-making scene in a New York deli, she added: “That’s just great writing. And that’s Nora Ephron. And you almost never get writing like that.”

“ What Happens Later ” marks Ryan's second venture as a director following the 2015 film “Ithaca,” in which she both directed and starred alongside her son, Jack Quaid, marking their fourth on-screen reunion with Tom Hanks. The Bleecker Street Media release is her inaugural project as both director and writer of a romantic comedy.

Based on Steven Dietz’s play “Shooting Star,” the film follows two former lovers who, after encountering each other when their flights are delayed due to snow, spend the night at the airport reminiscing about the past.

Ryan, making her screen comeback after eight years , said the film — filmed in three weeks on a $3 million budget — presented a “significant challenge,” but added that the difficulty was part of what motivated her to create it.

“How fully can you see your limitations as opportunities? We didn’t have a large budget. We shot in 21 nights. The movie needed to have scope,” she said. “We ended up filming in a museum in Arkansas. We couldn’t control the extras — we had to use real people. All of those things were fun to try to figure out in this limited time on this limited budget.”

Recalling some of her memorable performances on the big screen, Ryan described taking terse instructions from director Tony Scott on the set of “Top Gun” (“In this scene, you’re happy”; “In this scene, you’re sad”), studying the works of Carl Jung to play three different women in “Joe Versus the Volcano,” and struggling to get into character when tasked to play a drunk in “When a Man Loves a Woman.” She also discussed a role she famously turned down, for “Silence of the Lambs,” noting that Jodie Foster was “the right person” to play FBI trainee Clarice Starling, while adding: “I don’t see it as a comedy.”

When asked about the opportunities for older women in Hollywood, Ryan admitted there were certain limitations for women after a certain age, but added that those limitations spurred her to push her career in new directions.

“It’s undeniable that older actors often face limited roles,” she acknowledged. “But those constraints don’t apply to directors or producers. At some point, you just want to express yourself authentically. And sometimes, that doesn’t involve being an actor.”

Ryan revealed details about three upcoming projects, one where she will take the leading role, another she will direct, and a third she plans to direct and produce.

“I simply adore immersing myself in the world of storytelling. It was during my career that I realized the importance of the community within it — not just the filmmakers, but the connection with the audience. It's truly a fortunate way to earn a living,” she stated. “I'm striving to create more opportunities like that. You throw a variety of ideas out there until something sticks.”

The Sarajevo Film Festival runs Aug. 16 – 23.