Tom Hanks turned down “When Harry Met Sally” because he was happily divorced and couldn’t relate.
Hanks, 66, and Meg Ryan, 61, almost had a rom-com trio after starring in 1993’s “Sleepless in Seattle” and 1998’s “You’ve Got Mail,” each written and directed by Nora Ephron.
But Hank’s wife Rita Wilson, 66, revealed that the “Forrest Gump” star declined the offer to star alongside Ryan in 1989’s “When Harry Met Sally” — also written by Ephron — because he couldn’t relate to the character of Harry Burns being depressed post-divorce.
“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 pleased to be not married,” Hank’s current wife said on the “Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi” podcast.
“And so he couldn’t understand that an individual going through a divorce would have anything aside from similar to, ‘I’m so pleased.’ But I loved that script,” Wilson continued.
Hanks and his first wife Samantha Lewes got married in 1978 when Hanks was 21 years old and eventually divorced in 1987.
Hanks and Wilson married in 1988 after meeting on the set of “Volunteers.” Lewes died of bone cancer in 2002.
“When Harry Met Sally” director Rob Reiner considered many actors for the role of Harry before ultimately landing on Billy Crystal, including Albert Brooks, Richard Dreyfuss and Michael Keaton.
