Rob Reiner once revealed he changed ending of 'When Harry Met Sally' after falling in love with wife

The passing of esteemed director, writer, and actor Rob Reiner and his wife, acclaimed photographer Michele Reiner, has left the community heartbroken. According to PEOPLE, the couple was found murdered in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025, and was later found by their daughter, Romy. While Hollywood is looking back on the “All in the Family” director and writer’s achievements and life stories, there is one that stands out — a bittersweet one about falling in love. Reiner, who directed the iconic 1989 film “When Harry Met Sally,” revealed that the latter’s ending was altered after meeting his wife, and everything about it reveals love at its purest. 

According to The iPaper, Rob Reiner revealed that the story of the film came from his own personal life. Having been divorced from his first wife, Penny Marshall, in 1981, he was unsure whether a romantic theme was something that he wanted to create. The director revealed in previous reports that the original script wasn't meant to have a happy ending for the couple. Instead, Harry and Sally, portrayed by Bill Crystal and Meg Ryan, were supposed to “meet again in New York, have a little conversation and walk in opposite directions," he told Drew Barrymore while on her show. Instead, owing to a lovely twist of fate, we received a soothing and comforting climax that every heart desires. 

Speaking in an interview with 60 Minutes, he explained, “Because I had been married for 10 years, I’d been single for 10 years, and I couldn't figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody, and that gave birth to ‘When Harry Met Sally.’” Rewritten by late screenwriter Nora Ephron, the duo instead get together on New Year’s Eve at the end of the film, hinting at a 'happily ever after' — the perfect trope that captivated the hearts of many. What accommodated a fanfare of thousands was possible only because, while shooting, Reiner met his to-be wife, Michele. Before that, he wasn't keen on the lovers reuniting at the end of the film, simply because 8 years after his divorce, Rob still hadn't found 'the one.' A report from Reel Life with Jane revealed that filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld, who was working on the film with Reiner, introduced him to Michele during a shoot.

It started as a date, and the duo found perfection in each other and decided to get married. In 2014, when Reiner won the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award, he expressed just how important Michele’s contribution was. He noted that she made him a “more formed person.” “Now that I’m in this stage of my life, I’d rather be with them (kids and wife), spend time with them than anything. We love to make movies, but ultimately, this is more important, and I learned that along with other things. Michele taught me about how to be a real person,” he said.

And so she had a breathtaking effect, not just on him but on his career too. Speaking of how he changed his mind back then, Reiner said when things “hit off” with Michele, it pushed him to ponder. “I thought, ‘Oh, I get it. I get what happened. I get how this works. And so we changed it. We changed the ending. And the scene where Billy runs into the New Year's Eve, that speech that he gave, Billy [Crystal] wrote that,” he explained. A bit from the speech read, “Because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” 

The late director had a special bond with the film, especially with the character of “Harry,” and it was only because he found something even more special in his wife. “Years later, people ask me all the time whether Harry and Sally would still be together. And I think they would,” he remarked. As tributes pour in, we pay our respects to a legendary couple who redefined relationships through a historical masterpiece. 

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