Meg Ryan takes the Stage at UC Santa Barbara’s Pollock Theater to Talk All Things ‘When Harry Met Sally’

Elegantly dressed in all black, Meg Ryan walks onto the stage with a glowing smile that radiates through her bright blue eyes and captivates the audience’s undivided attention. She feigns a look of surprise when nearly the entire audience raises their hands in response to the question of who’s already seen When Harry Met Sally — the legacy of the iconic rom-com is palpable.

As a new Montecito resident, part of Ryan’s New Year’s resolution was to become more involved in the community, so when City of Angels director Brad Silberling invited her to join him on stage as part of UCSB Carsey-Wolf Center’s Revisiting the Classics series, she jumped at the opportunity. The two sat down and discussed the craft that went into filming When Harry Met Sally, shared some industry secrets, and broke down Ryan’s other iconic roles.

“I was so new in Hollywood,” Ryan said. Following her debut role in Top Gun, Sally was only Ryan’s second movie role. Looking back now as not only an accomplished actress, but a director and writer too, she recognized Rob Reiner’s and Nora Ephron’s lasting impressions on her work. Inspired by the era of films they did together, Ryan described her latest film, What Happens Later, as a “natural extension of grounding the questions these romantic comedies can ask.” Starring herself and David Duchovny as ex-lovers, the two run into each other for the first time in years as they are snowed in at the airport.

Delving into When Harry Met Sally, Ryan looked off fondly into the distance and smiled as she shared memories from the set. “Billy [Crystal] is the perfect person to fake an orgasm with,” she said, sending the audience into an eruption of laughter. Running through the unforgettable scene in Katz’s Deli, Ryan giggled at the awkwardness when she revealed that director Reiner’s mom and girlfriend were in the room as he coached her to a mock climax.

Not realizing at the time that it wasn’t commonplace, Ryan was particularly grateful for the three weeks of rehearsal that the cast had before filming. It gave the actors and crew time to get comfortable with each other and the script and even attribute characteristics of their own personalities to Harry and Sally. “There’s a lot of directors who are honestly afraid of rehearsal,” Silberling said, affirming what a luxury it was.

After wrapping up their discussion, the audience was invited to ask questions. Emphasizing that Ephron was also a female writer and director, an audience member was curious about what specifically Ryan has learned from Ephron that she applies to her own movie sets. “It has to do with the kind of hostess she was at dinner parties,” Ryan said, her face warming as she spoke fondly of her mentor. “It’s a community atmosphere where you want everyone to be at their best.” In addition to her attention to detail and focus on the cast’s morale, Ryan was also inspired by the way that she demanded respect from everyone on her set.

Ryan continued to divulge what motivates her to write and alluded to the mistakes she made getting romantically involved with co-stars in her early career. Just before the lights turned off and the movie was about to start, as the two walked off the stage, Ryan whispered to Silberling what the whole room felt: “That was so fun.”

To purchase tickets or for more information on future events in the Carsey-Wolf Center’s Revisiting the Classics series, visit carseywolf.ucsb.edu.