“Harry and Sally,” one of Reiner’s masterpieces
The romance between American director Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer and producer Michele Reiner, during the filming of “Harry and Sally” changed the script of the legendary romantic comedy and inspired the love confession and a cinematic happy ending that was later repeated in real life.
Reiner suggested Nora Ephron write a dating comedy. But originally the director’s intention was to end the film with the two protagonists taking different paths and reflecting their own reality, according to Reiner himself, who was still grieving over his divorce at the time.
“I had been married for 10 years. I was single for 10 years and I couldn’t imagine how I was going to be with anyone, and that’s where ‘When Harry Met Sally…’ came from,” Reiner told CNN in 2024.
A young photographer named Michele Singer changed the filmmaker’s perspective and made him rethink his original idea. When he met her, Reiner – like Harry – understood that when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want to start that “rest of life” as soon as possible.
“I met my wife of 35 years, Michele, while we were making the film. And I changed the ending,” he recalls. Rob and Michele married in 1989, the same year “When Harry Met Sally…” was released, and had three children: Jake, Nick and Romy.
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