Autumn is a wonderful time of year. The leaves begin to turn colors, the air feels crisp and cool, and it’s also the perfect time for watching one of the greatest romcoms ever made — When Harry Met Sally .
At the risk of making ’90s kids feel ancient, the film is fastly approaching its 35th anniversary . So as a way of looking back and paying homage to a true classic, here is every fact fans need to know about When Harry Met Sally .
‘When Harry Met Sally’ launched the career of one of Hollywood’s most prolific writers/directors.
Nora Ephron was the genius mind behind When Harry Met Sally . She also went on to write/direct films like Sleepless in Seattle as well as You’ve Got Mail.
The interview stories that are seen throughout the film are true accounts, given by real people.
Nora Ephron took time to interview real couples and ask them to tell the story of how they met. Both she and the director, Rob Reiner, thought they would make the perfect addition for in-between scenes.
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Billy Crystal was far from the producers’ first choice for Harry Burns.
Originally, Tom Hanks was offered the lead role , but he turned it down. Afterward, Michael Keaton and Harrison Ford were considered before Crystal was inevitably offered the part.
There’s a very meta bit of foreshadowing that you likely missed.
While Harry lies in bed while talking to Sally on the phone, he can be seen reading a copy of Stephen King’s “Misery.” The very next year, Rob Reiner directed a film adaptation of the novel , starring James Caan and Kathy Bates.
Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal had impeccable chemistry.
“Meg came in, and we didn’t even read a scene, and we all knew it was her ,” Billy told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s just one of those indefinable things that when we started talking, we were them already, you know?”
Nora Ephron inspired Sally’s picky eating.
In When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan’s character is notorious for having it her way when it comes to eating her meals. Apparently, this was a trait that was borrowed from screenwriter, Nora Ephron .
The film was nominated for an Oscar.
As mentioned earlier, Nora Ephron was the brilliant woman who helped breathe life into these timeless characters. She was nominated at the 1990 Academy Awards for ” Best Writing/Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen .”
Absolutely nobody liked the title — especially Nora Ephron.
Ephron campaigned hard for the title of the film to be How They Met . She also suggested Boy Meets Girl , Just Friends , Words of Love , and Harry, This Is Sally.
Harry and Jess’ friendship was inspired by Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner.
Crystal and Reiner first met years ago on the set of All in the Family . They became best friends and would often talk on the phone for hours, just like Harry and Jess do in the movie.
If you watch carefully, you can see Meg Ryan break character.
In the scene where Harry and Sally are walking through the museum, Meg begins to laugh as Billy delivers the line, “I would be proud to partake in your pecan pie.” She quickly looks over at Reiner for a cut, but doesn’t receive one and keeps going.
The film almost had a totally different ending.
Rob Reiner’s original vision had Harry and Sally going their own way at the end of the movie. However, the director fell in love while making the film and decided that his characters deserved a better fate.
The scene with the four-way telephone call was incredibly difficult to shoot.
There were no green screens or camera cuts. Instead, filming took place on three individual sets, all linked together with an active phone line. It took the actors and crew 60 times to get it right.
Bruno Kirby and Billy Crystal would go on to play on-film best friends just one year later.
Billy Crystal and Bruno Kirby were perpetuating the idea of a bromance long before it became the “cool thing” to do. They played lifelong best friends in When Harry Met Sally , as well as City Slickers .
Another iconic ’80s actress came very close to playing Sally.
Originally, Rob Reiner had his sights on the former muse of John Hughes, Molly Ringwald. but in the end, Meg Ryan was able to persuade the director to cast her.
A member of the Royal Family attended the film’s premiere in London.
True to form, Princess Diana of Wales was in attendance for the film’s premiere. Apparently, she told Billy Crystal that she would’ve been rolling in the aisles laughing, were it not for the leering eyes of the attendees.
The bedroom phone calls between Harry and Sally were inspired by the 1959 film, ‘Pillow Talk’.
The scenes were designed to show how even when Harry and Sally were far apart, they really were still incredibly close as friends.
Much of the New Year’s Even scene was ad-libbed by Billy Crystal.
Billy came up with the part about how Sally’s nose crinkles and he also completely improvised the line, “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible .”
No one, including Billy Crystal, expected the movie to be a hit.
1989 was an incredible year for movies, that included the release of Ghostbusters II , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , as well as Tim Burton’s Batman. Crystal, as well as critics, thought the film would pass by unnoticed.
Meg Ryan’s first attempts at fake-orgasming weren’t convincing.
Meg felt a little self-conscious about having a fake orgasm on set, in front of a room full of strangers. So in order to make her feel less embarrassed, director Rob Reiner faked one, too — in front of his own mother.
The restaurant where Meg Ryan faked orgasm is indeed a real place.
The diner is called Katz’s Delicatessen and it’s located in New York City. The diner specializes in corned beef and Jewish classics, and yes — you can still have what she was having .
Billy Crystal was the one who came up with the film’s most iconic joke.
After Sally (Meg Ryan) fake-orgasms in the diner, an elderly on-looking woman turns to her server and says, “I’ll have what she’s having.” That woman was none other than Estelle Reiner, the director’s mother.
