Meg Ryan’s children are clearly disinterested in what she’s having.
Ryan’s iconic orgasm in When Harry Met Sally (1989), which she faked over pastrami at Katz’s Deli in New York City, has been a cherished Hollywood moment for generations. However, her children, Jack Quaid, 31, and Daisy True Ryan, 19, are hilariously mortified by it.
“It’s funny, 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,” the 61-year-old actor told legendary comedian Carol Burnett, 90, in an Interview magazine conversation published on Thursday.
“My daughter was here and everybody was on speaker, and they were like, ‘Mom, this is a very unique embarrassment,’” Ryan continued. “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.’”
Katz’s did indeed mark the table in honor of Rob Reiner’s classic, which explored various relationship hurdles between men and women. The scene in question famously had Ryan’s titular Sally show Billy Crystal’s Harry how easily women can fake an orgasm.
“I’ll have what she’s having,” an elderly patron hilariously quips as the moment concludes.
Katz’s has been a New York institution for over 130 years and reportedly opened in 1888. The most coveted table is reportedly denoted for eager tourists with a sign hanging from the ceiling: “Where Harry met Sally… hope you have what she had! Enjoy!”
“I wonder if it’s the right one,” Ryan told Burnett about the table.
While Jack is an actor himself these days, he told InStyle in 2019 that he actively ignored the film for years: “It’s one of those things, where if you really think about it, you don’t want to see your mom having a fake orgasm in a deli when you’re growing up.”
He ultimately did watch the film after being cast in a romantic comedy of his own, Hulu’s Plus One, and told In Style he was “unbelievably proud” of his mother and called her “sobbing” — and said “the movie’s so much more than that scene.”
While her kids have now experienced it on their own, it remains unclear how Ryan’s ex-husband feels about the scene. She tied the knot with fellow actor Dennis Quaid on Valentine’s Day 1991 and welcomed Jack the following year. They divorced in 2001.
Ryan, who later expanded her family as a single mom by reportedly adopting Daisy True in 2006, has since embarked on an anticipated comeback and returns to her rom-com roots in the upcoming What Happens Later opposite love interest David Duchovny.