On the podcast Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi, Rita Wilson revealed why her husband Tom Hanks is not appearing alongside Meg Ryan in the cult rom-com classic Harry and Sally. The star did not understand the male lead offered to him in the film due to his own private situation.
“Harry and Sally”: unhappy after divorce? Tom Hanks didn’t understand that!
In the masterpiece Harry and Sally, considered by many to be one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, the two main characters meet again and again before they realize they are meant for each other. At one point in the multi-episode story, main character Harry is heartbroken because his wife Helen has divorced him. According to Wilson, that’s exactly what Hanks didn’t understand when he read the script.
When he was offered the role, Hanks was in the middle of his divorce from his first wife, Samantha Lewes. And he was very happy that the marriage is now over: “He couldn’t understand how someone who has gone through a divorce has no other feeling than: I’m so happy!” A few years ago, director Rob Reiner revealed that Tom Hanks would play Harry.
So everything turned out differently: Hanks & Ryan only later became a dream couple on screen
Besides, Tom Hanks didn’t stay happily single for long. After divorcing Lewes in 1987, he married Wilson in 1988, whom he was already dating when the role was offered. She also says she also read the “Harry and Sally” screenplay and was immediately excited. But she clearly couldn’t change Hanks’ mind.
At least that gives us a good idea of when the Forrest Gump star was offered the role in the then-1989 classic, starring Meg Ryan as Sally and Billy Crystal as Harry. As is known, the later rom-com hit was in development for a few years. In addition to Hanks, the male lead in “Harry and Sally” has also been offered to Richard Dreyfuss and Michael Keaton, among others.
If we had seen Hanks in Harry and Sally, it would have been in the 1980s when he made his screen debut as a duo with Meg Ryan. It wasn’t until shortly after that that they both appeared in front of the camera in 1990’s “Joe Against the Volcano.” Although the dark comedy was a box office disappointment, many were so enthralled by the chemistry between Hanks and Ryan that another project with them soon followed. came up. The classic “Schlaflos in Seattle” was followed by “em@il für dich”. Both were directed by Nora Ephron, who also wrote the screenplay for Harry and Sally. Wilson and Ephron’s friendship is a big part of the conversation on the podcast”Table for two with Bruce Bozzi“. In this regard, Wilson tells the anecdote about Hanks.
Tom Hanks – back in theaters today!
By the way, from today, June 15, 2023, you can see Tom Hanks again in the cinema. In Wes Anderson’s star-filled “Asteroid City,” he is part of a cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Rupert Friend, Hong Chau, Maya Hawke, Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Steve Carell and Jeff Goldblum and Margot Robbie.