Meg Ryan joined Interview Magazine for a discussion with comedy legend Carol Burnett, and she admitted that her kids are often embarrassed by one of her most iconic movie scenes: the fake orgasm at Katz’s Deli in “When Harry Met Sally.” In the 1989 romantic comedy, Ryan’s Sally proves to Billy Crystal’s Harry that women can convincingly trick men into thinking they’ve orgasmed by demonstrating as much at the deli table, prompting a fellow customer to say, “I’ll have what she’s having.”
“My son just called me this morning and he’s in New York staying at a hotel that’s right across the street from Katz’s Deli,” Ryan told Burnett. “My daughter was here and everybody was on speaker, and they were like, ‘Mom, this is a very unique embarrassment.’ He said, ‘You know you can go into that deli and there’s an arrow pointing down to the table where you shot that scene.”
“I wonder if it’s the right one,” Ryan added about the table.
Ryan’s son is Jack Quaid, the actor best known for his series regular role in Prime Video’s “The Boys.” Jack’s father is actor Dennis Quaid.
“I grew up with friends who also had parents in the industry, so it didn’t really feel different,” Jack Quaid told People magazine earlier this summer about growing up with two giant actors as parents. “But then you grow up, and you realize that’s a pretty unique thing, that not one but two of your parents are actors. You don’t realize that things are slightly abnormal until later.”
“I will thank them for that until the day I die,” he added. “Now I get to actually live in these worlds, and that’s just been such a joy.”
Ryan is gearing up to return to the big screen in “What Happens Later,” which she also directed. The film marks her return to the romantic-comedy genre, which she became a icon of with films like “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail.”
based on Steven Dietz’s play “Shooting Star,” Ryan’s upcoming film follows two old flames who, after bumping into each other when their flights get snowed in, spend the night in an airport reliving the past. Ryan also co-wrote the film’s script. She stars opposite David Duchovny.
“What Happens Later” debuts in theaters on Nov. 3.
