Rita Wilson says her husband Tom Hanks turned down a lead role in 1989’s When Harry Met Sally due to the state of his own love life at the time.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of the podcast Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi, Rita, a former editor at large for HuffPost, mentioned that Tom had originally been offered the role of Harry Burns.
However, he passed on the part – because, according to Rita, his own feelings about divorce at the time were very different from the character’s.
“People probably don’t know this, but Tom was offered When Harry Met Sally,” Rita said, adding that Tom “turned it down because he was going through a divorce and he was very happy to be not married”.
“So he could not understand that a person going through a divorce would [feel] anything other than just, like, ‘I’m so happy,’” she continued with a laugh.
Tom and his first wife, Samantha Lewes, divorced in 1987. He and Rita have been married since 1988. Samantha died in 2002.
Billy Crystal ultimately played Harry in the romantic comedy, which also starred Meg Ryan as Harry’s love interest Sally Albright. The movie is now regarded as a classic of the genre.
The movie’s director, Rob Reiner, has spoken before about other actors who were in the running to play Harry.
During an appearance on The Howard Stern Show in 2016, Reiner mentioned that both Tom and Albert Brooks were among the actors he considered for the part. Reiner also said he was nervous to cast Billy due to their close friendship.
“Now to be completely honest, and Billy knows this ... He was my best friend and I was nervous about doing this with my best [friend],” he said. “What if this doesn’t work? What is this gonna do?”
The director added that his fears were later put to rest and that Billy nailed the role.