Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal Recreate Iconic 'When Harry Met Sally' Fake Orgasm Scene 35 Years Later

There are rom-coms and then there’s When Harry Met Sally. Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, the 1989 film not only launched stars Billy Crystal (Harry) and Meg Ryan (Sally) into superstardom, pegging them as go-to leading actors for the next decade, but the movie is also said to have totally transformed the genre.

One reason the flick has a permanent place in the pop-culture pantheon: that famous scene in Katz’s Deli, in which Sally, in passionate detail, proves to Harry that, yes, women can fake an orgasm. Who can forget the scene’s perfect button when another diner nods at Sally and says to the waiter, “I’ll have what she’s having”? (The woman was Reiner’s mother.) In fact, the iconic New York sandwich joint, in homage to the film, continues to post a sign above their beloved table that reads, “Where Harry met Sally…Hope you have what she had! Enjoy.”

Now, to mark the 35th anniversary of one of cinema’s finest moments, Ryan and Crystal have reunited and returned to Katz’s—this time for what will likely be this year’s most buzzed-about Super Bowl commercial: When Sally Met Hellmann’s.

In the commercial, which was released on Instagram last week and will air in the Super Bowl’s second quarter, we find Harry and Sally sitting across from each other at that very same table having lunch. Only Sally is unhappy with her mile high turkey sandwich. “Something wrong?” asks Harry. “Not doing it,” replies Sally. The one thing she and her sandwich need is another squeeze—Hellmann’s mayo. Sally takes a bite and… Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh, God, yes! (Today the pleasure-seeking fellow diner is none other than rising rom-com queen Sydney Sweeney.)

For Ryan and Crystal, revisiting those characters in an ad for Hellman’s made total sense. “They were really respectful of the film and wanted to do a smart, hilarious take on it,” says Ryan in an exclusive joint interview with InStyle. “We knew that the bar was going to be set pretty high, and they did it.” Crystal was also game from the get-go. “The Super Bowl is one of the highest rated events,” he says. "We thought, Okay, it's an event. And this is the 35th anniversary of this movie. And so why not?”

Going back to Katz’s was a bit like going home for the couple. “When we first walked onto the set together and sat at the ‘I’ll have what she's having table,’ we felt that connection, like we were picking up where we left off,” says Crystal. “It all felt exactly the same. Like every couple of weeks [Harry and Sally] go to Katz's to have a sandwich and then see a matinee.”

When asked to describe what they adore about one another, neither hesitates. “He has a totally contagious twinkle in his eye,” says Ryan. She went on to share that Crystal is always delighted by an idea or another person, and also wants to delight right back. “And that is a very, very, very contagious and irresistible thing,” she adds.

For Crystal, it’s Ryan’s authentic spirit. “Meg is genuine. That's who she is and that's what I love about her,” he says. "I knew from the first second we met.”

Read on for more from Ryan and Crystal about their chemistry, what they loved about making the film, and what they would tell their younger selves.

You have this great chemistry, a kind of je ne sais quoi. Why do you think you work so well together?

Ryan: When they covered me first in the commercial Billy said to the makeup artist, ‘get her the good eye drops.’ Because my eyes were apparently really red. That's part of it; he just really cares.

Crystal: I care about her. When we made the movie, we were staying at different hotels. I remember I would always try to call the night before. We would talk on the phone to see what we were going to do the next day and how we were doing and so forth. It was just so easy.

What sticks out for you about that time?

Crystal: It's 35 years ago—a perfect time for us in our careers and our development as humans. We had this delicate piece of art to make. And you never know what is going to happen. All you can do is control what you're doing. And with us and Bruno [Kirby] and Carrie [Fisher], Rob and Nora, that was our group. It was a small group making a big movie. We stayed in touch during the shoot a lot. And the rehearsal process was a big part of the movie.

Ryan: It was like a fun dinner party where everybody gets you and you want to talk to everyone. And you want to see that person talk to that person. We miss Carrie, Bruno, and Nora so much. They were really, really, really smart, funny, kind people who got a kick out of entertaining each other.

In a parallel universe, if you could say anything to those people 35 years ago, what would you say?

Ryan: Me, I would say, ‘just relax.’ With any young actor, as soon as you relax, you're going to get better. And 'listen, life's going to happen.' And also, 'hands free, heart open.'

Crystal: And, 'buy Apple stock.'

You, too, can have a sandwich that, well, hits the spot. Hellman’s teamed up with Katz’s to offer a ‘What She’s Having’ sandwich package, which includes recipes, Hellmann’s mayo, Katz’s turkey, and their famous hand-carved pastrami on fresh deli rye bread. (Visit katzsdelicatessen.com through Sunday, February 9; each kit costs $120 and feeds four to six people.)

Read the original article on InStyle