Meg Ryan Recalls The Funny Conversation She Had With Her Son Jack Quaid About The Orgasm Scene In When Harry Met Sally

Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally...
(Image credit: Columbia Pictures)

When Harry Met Sally is one of those movies you just have to see – here at CinemaBlend, we even consider it to be one of the best romantic comedies of all time. While the whole movie is a classic, it’s honestly worth watching solely for the legendary scene in Katz’s Deli, in which Sally (Meg Ryan) loudly demonstrates to Harry (Billy Crystal) how easy it is to fake an orgasm. If you ask Meg Ryan, though, it sounds like she recently learned there’s at least one person out there who wishes they could un-see the moment – her son Jack Quaid

During her decades-long career, Meg Ryan has established a reputation as rom-com royalty, thanks to unforgettable performances in films like Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and When Harry Met Sally. Her incredible career no doubt served as an inspiration to her son Jack Quaid, who’s forged his own path in Hollywood through TV series like The Boys and films like Oppenheimer. But in a recent conversation with Carol Burnett for Interview Magazine, Meg Ryan revealed that her son recently found himself in a precarious situation when he encountered a part of her When Harry Met Sally legacy: 

Yeah. 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. My daughter was here and everybody was on speaker, and they were like, ‘Mom, this is a very unique embarrassment.’ [Laughs] 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.’

The scene in question features Meg Ryan delivering what is probably the most memorable fake orgasm committed to film – and if you haven’t seen it yet, you really need to in order to understand why Quaid may have been feeling a bit conflicted at encountering that piece of cinema history. Take a look at the iconic moment here: 

Standing in the same location where your mom famously faked an orgasm you might feel a bit like walking in on your parents in a compromising moment, only magnified to a much greater power. So, it’s easy to understand why Jack Quaid felt some embarrassment. Still, it sounds like he was a pretty good sport about the whole thing. It would probably be hard not to be, though – even with the awkwardness, knowing your mom starred in one of the most beloved movies of all time has to be pretty cool. 

Many movie fans are still seeing When Harry Met Sally for the first time, even though it's been more than 30 years since fans first fell in love with it, so if you haven't seen it yet, you're not alone. The good news is that if you have a Max subscription, you can watch the beloved rom-com, that legendary scene, right now. And be sure to keep an eye on our 2023 movie release guide to see what other amazing rom-coms might be hitting theaters soon. 

Katherine Webb