“I’ll have what she’s having.” Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal created romantic-comedy perfection in When Harry Met Sally — and viewers are still falling in love with their performances today.
The Rob Reiner-directed film follows Harry Burns (Crystal) and Sally Albright (Ryan) from the time they meet in Chicago through more than a decade of friendship and missed connections. Written by the late Nora Ephron, the movie raked in more than $92.8 million in the U.S. when it hit theaters in July 1989. The movie’s box office success came as a surprise to Crystal, who figured summer blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Batman would have them beat.
When Harry Met Sally wasn’t just a fan favorite. The movie was widely praised by critics, earning Ephron an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nod for her impressive screenplay. According to Crystal, however, the script went through some major changes to get to its now-iconic final version.
“The script totally changed from what we had agreed to do,” the Emmy winner said at the TCM Classic film festival in April 2019 in honor of the flick’s 30th anniversary. “It kept growing and growing and growing. You had the guy point of view, and then you had Nora and Meg, throwing everything in it together, and that’s why I think it’s such a powerful screenplay.”
Working on the ‘80s comedy was a collaborative process and the finishing touches weren’t put on the production until the very last minute. Crystal recalled that one of the movie’s most memorable scenes — Sally’s fake orgasm at Katz’s Delicatessen — wasn’t written until two weeks before filming began.
“We were in a meeting, and Nora said, ‘I need something. There’s something missing,’” the City Slickers actor told The Hollywood Reporter in April 2019. “There’s the moment where Harry’s now been screwing around. He’s in revenge mode, and he’s this cocky little stud. … Meg said, ‘I should have an orgasm! That would be hilarious.’ And I went, ‘In a public place, like a restaurant.’ Nora goes wild.”
The infamous scene still sends viewers into stitches — but Ryan’s son, Jack Quaid, hesitated to see what all the hype was about.
“I saw When Harry Met Sally for the first time recently,” Jack, whose father is Dennis Quaid, told Entertainment Weekly in October 2018. “When your mother has one of the most famous orgasm scenes of all time, you do not jump to the film, OK?”
Once he finally watched it, the movie became an instant favorite. “Afterwards I cried for so long because I was so proud of her,” he gushed. “I immediately called her, and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry I missed this movie.’ She’s like, ‘I’ve seen it like one time.’”
Keep scrolling to see what the cast of When Harry Met Sally is doing now.
Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock
‘When Harry Met Sally’ Cast: Where Are They Now?
“I’ll have what she’s having.” Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal created romantic-comedy perfection in When Harry Met Sally — and viewers are still falling in love with their performances today.
The Rob Reiner-directed film follows Harry Burns (Crystal) and Sally Albright (Ryan) from the time they meet in Chicago through more than a decade of friendship and missed connections. Written by the late Nora Ephron, the movie raked in more than $92.8 million in the U.S. when it hit theaters in July 1989. The movie’s box office success came as a surprise to Crystal, who figured summer blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Batman would have them beat.
When Harry Met Sally wasn’t just a fan favorite. The movie was widely praised by critics, earning Ephron an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nod for her impressive screenplay. According to Crystal, however, the script went through some major changes to get to its now-iconic final version.
“The script totally changed from what we had agreed to do,” the Emmy winner said at the TCM Classic film festival in April 2019 in honor of the flick’s 30th anniversary. “It kept growing and growing and growing. You had the guy point of view, and then you had Nora and Meg, throwing everything in it together, and that’s why I think it’s such a powerful screenplay.”
[jwplayer cA9WzKzZ-zhNYySv2]
Working on the ‘80s comedy was a collaborative process and the finishing touches weren’t put on the production until the very last minute. Crystal recalled that one of the movie’s most memorable scenes — Sally’s fake orgasm at Katz’s Delicatessen — wasn’t written until two weeks before filming began.
“We were in a meeting, and Nora said, ‘I need something. There’s something missing,’” the City Slickers actor told The Hollywood Reporter in April 2019. “There’s the moment where Harry’s now been screwing around. He’s in revenge mode, and he’s this cocky little stud. … Meg said, ‘I should have an orgasm! That would be hilarious.’ And I went, ‘In a public place, like a restaurant.’ Nora goes wild.”
The infamous scene still sends viewers into stitches — but Ryan’s son, Jack Quaid, hesitated to see what all the hype was about.
“I saw When Harry Met Sally for the first time recently,” Jack, whose father is Dennis Quaid, told Entertainment Weekly in October 2018. “When your mother has one of the most famous orgasm scenes of all time, you do not jump to the film, OK?”
Once he finally watched it, the movie became an instant favorite. “Afterwards I cried for so long because I was so proud of her,” he gushed. “I immediately called her, and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry I missed this movie.’ She’s like, ‘I’ve seen it like one time.’”
Keep scrolling to see what the cast of When Harry Met Sally is doing now.
Credit: Castle Rock/Nelson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Meg Ryan (Sally Albright)
Her starring role in When Harry Met Sally earned Ryan her first Golden Globe nomination in 1990 and quickly transformed her into one of Hollywood’s go-to leading ladies. The Connecticut native is also known for her work in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), You’ve Got Mail (1998), Kate & Leopold (2001) and The Women (2008). Her directorial debut, Ithaca, premiered in October 2015.
She was previously married to Dennis Quaid — with whom she shares son Jack — from 1991 to 2001. Ryan adopted a daughter, Daisy, in January 2006 and sparked an on-off relationship with John Mellencamp in 2010. They got engaged in November 2018 but Us Weekly exclusively confirmed that they called it quits one year later.
Credit: Castle Rock/Nelson/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock; Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
Billy Crystal (Harry Burns)
The New York native had already found success in TV shows, such as ABC’s Soap and NBC’s Saturday Night Live, in the 1970s and 1980s before moving to the big screen. Crystal’s other memorable performances include The Princess Bride (1987), City Slickers (1991), Monsters Inc. (2001) and Monsters University (2013). Throughout his decades in the entertainment industry, Crystal has won a Tony Award and six Emmy Awards. More recently, he starred alongside Josh Gad in the first and only season of FX’s The Comedians and reprised his role of Mike Wazowski in the Disney+ series Monsters at Work.
The comedian has been married to his wife, Janice Crystal, since 1970.
Credit: Columbia Pictures; Broadimage/Shutterstock
Carrie Fisher (Marie)
Best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars series, the California native died of sudden cardiac arrest in December 2016, one day before her mother, Debbie Reynolds, suffered a fatal stroke. Fisher was also known for her work in 1980’s Blues Brothers and later earned two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for appearances in 30 Rock and Catastrophe. She was posthumously awarded a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for the audiobook of her 2016 memoir, The Princess Diarist.
Fisher is survived by her daughter, Billie Lourd, who welcomed her first child with Austen Rydell in September 2020.
Credit: Columbia Pictures; Bei/Shutterstock
Bruno Kirby (Jess)
Also recognized for his appearances in The Godfather Part II (1974), City Slickers (1991) and Stuart Little (1999), the comedian died in August 2006 from complications related to leukemia. Three years before his death, he married My Girl actress Lynn Sellers.
Credit: Columbia Pictures; MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Lisa Jane Persky (Alice)
Persky gave Quentin Tarantino his first onscreen kiss in 1995’s Destiny Turns on the Radio and later made guest appearances on TV shows such as Private Eye, NYPD Blue, The X-Files, King of the Hill and The Golden Girls. When she wasn’t acting, the New York City native worked as a journalist and fine art photographer. In 2010, she was a founding editor and art director at the Los Angeles Review of Books. Three years later, she contributed to the Jeffrey Schwartz-directed documentary I Am Divine about actor and drag performer Divine, who died in 1988.
Persky married music producer Andy Zax in 2008.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
Steven Ford (Joe)
The son of former president Gerald Ford and former first lady Betty Ford, Steven originated the role of Private Investigator Andy Richards on The Young and the Restless in 1981. He also appeared in Heat (1995), Eraser (1996), Starship Troopers (1997) and Armageddon (1998). The Utah State University alum gave his final film performance in Transformers (2007) and is currently on the board of trustees for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
Harley Jane Kozak (Helen)
After appearing in Parenthood (1989) and Arachnophobia (1990) — and a handful of other projects throughout the late ‘90s — the Pennsylvania native’s writing career blossomed. Her award-winning debut novel, Dating Dead Men, was published in January 2004. Kozak most recently contributed to mystery anthology For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, which hit shelves in 2018.
Kozak shares three adult children with her ex-husband, entertainment lawyer Gregory Aldisert.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
Kevin Rooney (Ira Stone)
While Rooney hasn’t continued to work onscreen since his small role in When Harry Met Sally, he’s found success as a writer and producer, most notably for ABC’s My Wife and Kids from 2001 to 2005.
Credit: Columbia Pictures
Michelle Nicastro (Amanda)
After playing Harry’s college sweetheart in the 1989 romantic comedy, Nicastro had minor roles on Full House and on the NBC soap opera Santa Barbara. She originated the role of Ariadne in Merlin on Broadway in 1983 and toured the U.S. as Éponine in a production of Les Misérables five years later. Nicastro died of breast and brain cancer in November 2010.