Rob Reiner’s Wife Inspired Him to Change the Ending of ‘When Harry Met Sally…’
By the time Rob Reiner was crafting his approach to When Harry Met Sally…, he was feeling cynical about love. He was so pessimistic about the notion of a forever love that the flick was initially supposed to end with the title characters maintaining a friendship, never taking things further. Michele Singer Reiner’s influence changed all that. The director’s budding romance with the photographer he met through mutual friends completely changed his outlook on love and altered the movie’s ending. Harry Burns and Sally Albright fell in love because Rob fell for Michele.
Rob Reiner’s blossoming romance inspired him to change the end of ‘When Harry Met Sally…’
Rob Reiner was down on love when he signed on to work on When Harry Met Sally…. He had split from Penny Marshall years earlier. Because of his own experience, Reiner wasn’t convinced that love lasted forever. Then, he met Michele Singer Reiner, a photographer at the time.
Reiner has discussed how Michele inspired him to change the ending of When Harry Met Sally… more than once, but he most recently did so during an episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace. During the interview, Reiner said that Michele changed his entire outlook on love and inspired him to end the flick with Harry and Sally as a couple. Originally, he said, he planned for the relationship to have run its course, with the iconic pair seeing each other one more time and going their separate ways.
The change made the movie one of the most iconic rom-coms of all time. Would the flick have been as satisfying had they not ended up together? It’s hard to say, but The Breakup tried the idea of a couple not ending up together many years after When Harry Met Sally… premiered. Many viewers found the ending realistic but unsatisfying.
How long were Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner together?
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner met in the 1980s while Reiner was working on When Harry Met Sally. They married in 1989 when Rob was 42. Michele was 10 years his junior. Soon after tying the knot, the couple started their family together.
Rob brought an adopted daughter, Tracy, into the mix. Together, they welcomed Jake Reiner in May 1991. Nick Riener, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of his parents, was born two years later. Romy Reiner joined the family in 1997. They died together inside their home on December 14, 2025.
The Reiners lived in Brentwood and enjoyed having their family and friends nearby. Youngest child, Romy, reportedly lived directly across the street from her parents. Billy Crystal, who worked with Reiner on When Harry Met Sally…, was spotted outside of the Reiners’ home the evening of their murder. Crystal looked distraught. The tragedy also drew Larry David to the scene, according to several reports.
