Tom Hanks turned down the lead role in classic romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally…

During a recent appearance on the Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi podcast, Tom’s wife Rita Wilson revealed the 66-year-old turned down the role because he had just gone through a divorce and was happy about it.

“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 happy to be not married,” she explained.

Rita added that at that time her husband “could not understand that a person going through a divorce would be anything other than just like, ‘I’m so happy.'”

The 1989 rom-com, directed by Rob Reiner, famously starred Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the lead roles. Billy played Harry Burns, a character struggling to come to terms with the end of his marriage, in the film.

Following the release of When Harry Met Sally, the Big actor went on to star in three films alongside Meg Ryan in the 1990s – Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless In Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail.

The Forrest Gump actor was previously married to Samantha Lewes, the mother of his two children, between 1978 and 1987.

He has been married to Rita since 1988. They share two children.

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