I just found out that the iconic restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally was included in the script later

I just found out that the iconic restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally, yes, that scene, the one that’s been quoted and parodied endlessly, wasn’t even in the original script. It was added later. That blew my mind a little. Because here’s this moment that’s practically etched into pop culture history, a scene so bold and brilliant that it defines the entire film for many people, and it almost didn't even exist.

That revelation made me think about how fluid and unpredictable the creative process can be. Sometimes, the most legendary moments in storytelling aren’t part of the first draft. They show up unexpectedly, in brainstorming sessions, on set, or in last-minute rewrites. Rob Reiner, the director, and Nora Ephron, the writer, reportedly came up with the idea during a conversation about relationships and female intimacy, and Billy Crystal’s improvisation in the final take just sealed the deal.

Meg Ryan’s decision to actually add it as a scene in the film, instead of just talking about it? Absolutely genius. The scene didn’t arrive neatly typed out in a final draft. Instead, it was born the way the best moments are: in a room full of sharp, funny people tossing around honest thoughts about intimacy, relationships, and the weird things we all pretend not to do.

How When Harry Met Sally's deli scene idea was formed

It started with Nora Ephron casually mentioning that sometimes, women fake orgasms. Rob Reiner, bless him, was shocked and asked, “Really? They never fake it with me,” he said, only half-joking.

And that arrogant remark, so perfectly male, so perfectly clueless, made it to the final draft of When Harry Met Sally. From there, things snowballed. Meg Ryan suggested Sally fake an orgasm in a restaurant. Billy Crystal, quick as ever, came up with the killer punchline: “I’ll have what she’s having," which was spoken by Estelle Reiner in the film, Rob Reiner's mother.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, Crystal talked about working with Nora and Reiner on When Harry Met Sally, as he said,

"Nora was very open about taking suggestions and adding her magic to it. [Reiner] was the best director I've ever worked with ... we were able to create all these new things that weren't in the script — together, all of us, including the orgasm scene."

He then talked about how, during a public screening, the audience's reaction to the clip reaffirmed their decision to put the dialogue in, as he added,

"When she starts faking it, they go berserk," Crystal said. "I mean, like, berserk. You couldn't hear any dialogue. They laughed through the next scene. The roar, it was gigantic."

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The sequence is now considered to be one of the most iconic scenes in the film, and in overall cinematic history, not just for its sharp comedic timing, but for how it masterfully captures the raw awkwardness of male-female dynamics in the modern world.

When Harry Met Sally is available to stream on Prime Video.

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