Why Tom Hanks Turned Down ‘When Harry Met Sally’: “He Could Not Understand” an Unhappy Divorce

Fans of Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail may be surprised to know that Tom Hanks had another chance to star alongside Meg Ryan in a rom-com years before these films launched, in the Nora Ephron classic When Harry Met Sally. The film, which features the undeniable chemistry between Ryan’s character Sally Albright and Harry Burns, ultimately played by Billy Crystal, tackles the question “Can men and women ever be just friends?”

According to Hanks’ current wife, Rita Wilson, Hanks was offered the role while he was in the midst of a divorce in 1987 from his first wife of nine years, Samantha Lewes. Wilson shared the story while being interviewed on iHeart’s podcast Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi, per IndieWire.

“People probably don’t know this, but Tom was offered When Harry Met Sally and he turned it down because he was going through a divorce and he was very happy to not be married,” Wilson told Bozzi.

Wilson, who has been married to Hanks since 1988, went on to say, “And so he could not understand that a person going through a divorce would have anything other than just like, ‘I’m so happy.’ But I loved that script.”

According to IndieWire, other actors allegedly considered for the role along with Hanks and Crystal, included Albert Brooks, Bill Murray, Harrison Ford, Michael Keaton, and Richard Dreyfuss. Director Rob Reiner, a good friend of Crystal, shared with Variety that he was initially worried that their friendship would be compromised by working together.

“It turned out way better than anything I could have imagined because not only was he great in the part, it made our friendship better,” Reiner told Variety.

While both Ephron and Reiner were in the midst of divorces while making the film, the heartwarming ending of When Harry Met Sally was Reiner’s decision, which he made after meeting his future wife, Michele Singer. The last scene originally featured Harry and Sally parting ways.

“Because at that time, I couldn’t figure out how I was going to get with anybody, so I just had them walking in opposite directions at the end,” Reiner revealed to The A.V. Club back in 2016. “And then I met the woman who became my wife during the making of the movie, and I changed the ending.”

Love certainly does conquer all!