Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reveal why they finally revisited ‘When Harry Met Sally’ after 35 years

CNN
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It’s a reunion 35 years in the making, thanks to mayonnaise.

More than three decades after the romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally” first hit theaters, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are finally back together.

Coinciding with the 35th anniversary of their beloved movie, Crystal and Ryan returned to the famed Katz’s Deli in New York City to recreate one of the film’s most famous scenes, where the floors were still greasy, the commotion was still loud, and, well, the orgasms were still very fake.

Seated together at the exact same table where they originally filmed that infamous 1989 meal, Crystal and Ryan have recreated the iconic moment from rom-com cinema for a Hellmann’s mayonnaise commercial that will air during next month’s Super Bowl.

Speaking to CNN, the duo revealed that they never thought they’d have a “When Harry Met Sally” reunion. But then the perfect project came along.

In the commercial, titled “When Sally Met Hellmann’s,” Ryan, in character as Sally, is overcome with excitement, to say the least, when she takes a bite of her turkey sandwich with Hellmann’s mayonnaise.

Ryan said she is excited for fans to learn that Harry and Sally are still together all these years later.

“I don’t know that they intended it, but what we like about it is that you’re inside a little bit of their happily after ever,” Ryan told CNN. “Thirty-five years later, you get the idea that they’re still going here, they’re together, they’re still talking the way they talk to each other. It’s like a little wink at the movie.”

Crystal said that it felt like no time had passed at all.

“Is the right word comfortable? I don’t know, it just makes sense! That’s always been something, is that you can’t really define it,” Crystal said. “I knew it the first time that we met when Meg came in. I was already cast in the movie and when Meg came in to talk and then to read, we just said, ‘Let’s start shooting.’ It just felt right and great right away. And it did on this day, too.”

Crystal continued, “When we walked onto the set together, it was just like, ‘Here we are.’ Same table, same pastrami sandwich, same indigestion. And you know, it felt kind of great.”

The duo still marvel at the enduring love for “When Harry Met Sally.”

“I think about the legacy of that scene or that movie,” Ryan said. “Talking about it today, I’m so grateful that I was around all of these really kind and very high-level comedic minds,” she said, reminiscing on working on the film with Crystal and castmates Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, as well as director Rob Reiner, writer Nora Ephron and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld.

“Understanding men and women, the basic principle was, ‘Can they be friends?’ You know, that’s delicate stuff – this was in the late ’80s. It was really high wire,” Crystal said. “You have no idea what’s going to happen with any project. We left with a great experience. We still have that in our hearts, and we’ll always have that. And the fact that this movie has endured and is so respected and revered and studied, that is incredibly moving and satisfying.”

Recalling the original deli scene, Crystal said that Ephron came up with the initial idea to discuss a woman faking an orgasm on-screen. But the two stars had creative input. Ryan told CNN that she is the one who voiced, ‘I should do it,’ and then Crystal took it up a notch, offering the idea to film the scene in a public setting, like a restaurant.

In the Super Bowl ad, the punchline – “I’ll have what she’s having” – is recreated by a modern-day rom-com star: actress Sydney Sweeney.

Ryan praised Sweeney as “ballsy, funny, game, silly and smart,” and said that she came to set with social media ideas to support the project.

“That’s maybe an intimidating environment to walk into,” Ryan added. “But she was just fantastic.”

Crystal, who praised Sweeney’s “extraordinary work” in HBO’s “Euphoria,” said that “bearing the burden of having to deliver that line” comes with pressure, but Sweeney “delivered it and she was really good.”

“She was just great,” Crystal said. “I think it will be a delicious little surprise at the end.”