Since the tragic news broke that director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, have died, tributes have been pouring in.
And amid the stories of kindness, compassion, and political action, one story stands out: How the couple’s chance first meeting altered the ending of the 1989 classic When Harry Met Sally—possibly the most beloved romantic comedy of all time.
Had the couple not met during filming, the movie’s memorable New Year’s Eve ending might’ve not been a part of the film at all.
During production of the iconic rom-com in New York City, photographer Michele Singer Reiner (then Michele Singer) stopped by the set. According to a 1989 New York Times article, the director, who was earlier divorced from Penny Marshall, spotted her and instantly felt moved.
“I look over and I see this girl, and ‘Whoo!’ I was attracted immediately,” Reiner told the news outlet.
The two were introduced by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, fell in love, and were married just months after meeting, in the same year the film was ultimately released.
Cynical ending becomes more hopeful
The meeting didn’t just change Reiner’s own love story, however. It prompted a new ending to the film, ensuring that Harry and Sally’s love would also last forever.
“Originally, Harry and Sally didn’t get together. But then I met Michele and I thought: OK, I see how this works,” he told The Guardian in 2018.
After falling in love with Michele, the director, who had been single for many years at the start of filming, scrapped the film’s cynical ending, which had Harry and Sally bumping into each other on the street years after their romance, chatting, and walking off in separate directions.
In its place, was the ending we now know and love.
It was during the scene that Billy Crystal said to Meg Ryan one of the most quotable lines in the film: “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start right now!”
With a screenplay written by Nora Ephron, the movie went on to become influential in the bourgeoning rom-com genre that dominated the 1990s.
A relationship that crossed into film and politics
The director and his photographer wife would work together on a number of projects, including Misery and the newly released comedy Spinal Tap II. But their ventures weren’t just creative ones—they were dedicated to making the world a better place and speaking out in the political sphere.
Together, they started the I Am Your Child campaign, which urged a focus on early childhood development, and championed a California bill that directed tobacco taxes toward prenatal care and early childhood programs.
Reiner also cofounded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was instrumental in overturning the ban on same-sex marriage in the state.
The director once joked that Michele, who took Donald Trump’s photo for the cover of his book The Art of the Deal, “has a lot to atone for.” But in reality, she was his biggest inspiration, inspiring him to fight for causes he believed in.
“I can honestly say the reason I’ve done so many things politically is because of her,” he told Stephen Colbert at the Montclair Film Festival in 2016. “She is my Bunsen burner that lights the flame in my ass.”
The couple remained together until their tragic death on Sunday. The Los Angeles Police Department has said it is investigating their deaths as an “apparent homicide.”