Tom Hanks Turned Down ‘When Harry Met Sally’ Because He Didn’t Understand Divorce Sadness

Bruce Haring

June 17, 2023 at 5:32 p.m.·1 min read

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan teamed for two rom-com classics: 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle and 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.

So why wasn’t he also a part of 1988’s When Harry Met Sally?

More from Deadline

Mrs. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, revealed the secret reason on iHeart Podcast’s Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi,

“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 said. “And so he could not understand that a person going through a divorce would have anything other than just like, ‘I’m so happy.'”

Billy Crystal eventually got the part. Hanks divorced first wife Samantha Lewes in 1987 and married Wilson in 1988.

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