Meg Ryan’s Son Finally Watched His Mom’s Iconic Scene... And His Opinion Was Priceless

If, like Jack, you’ve somehow managed to avoid the Nora Ephron-penned movie all these years, then here’s what goes down. Meg’s Sally Albright is enjoying some lunch with Billy Crystal’s Harry Burns when talk turns to female orgasms. Harry insists that none of the ladies he’s bedded has ever needed to fake one. But Sally soon has him questioning everything he ever believed.

Yes, despite being surrounded by fellow diners, Sally decides to show just how easy it is to fake an orgasm. The character’s screams of ‘yes’ become increasingly loud before she pretends to collapse from waves of pleasure. A nearby woman then utters the immortal line, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

At a 30th anniversary screening of the film at the 2019 Turner Classic Movies Festival, a modest Meg claimed the scene wasn’t that difficult to perform. She said, “Comedy of Sally is so behavioral, it’s not really so much talking. It’s doing. So it’s sort of really very logical. And it wasn’t hard.”

Meg was assisted beforehand by the man in the director’s chair. In a bid to make his leading lady more comfortable, Rob Reiner briefly assumed the role of Sally. He told the TCM Festival crowd, “Meg doesn’t realize [that] she has to do it in front of all these strangers. All these people and the extras and everything. And so the first couple of times it looked like it needed more. So I said, ‘Meg, let me show you!’”

Rob had to perform the scene in front of family, too. That’s right: the diner who immediately responds to Sally’s orgasm is the director’s mom! Rob also explained that her iconic line was conceived by leading man Billy. He said, “He added the biggest laugh in the movie, which is the biggest laugh in any movie I’ve ever been involved with.”

Billy told the crowd he was impressed with how Rob stepped in for Meg. The actor said, “He proceeds to have an orgasm that Mighty Joe Young would be proud of.” Billy also joked that he ate more than two dozen pastrami sandwiches due to how many times the scene had to be filmed.

In another interview with publication The Hollywood Reporter, Billy revealed the scene was actually a case of art imitating life. The actor recalled a conversation he had in which screenwriter Nora suggested writing a scene about fake orgasms. According to Billy, director Rob was stunned to hear that women did such a thing!

Although Billy came up with the payoff, it was Meg who decided the scene needed an actual fake orgasm. The actor concluded, “That’s how the movie got real. Because of Meg and I and Nora and Rob sitting around, talking about ‘How can we make it better?’” According to Billy, When Harry Met Sally was the first mainstream film to approach such a subject.

Billy said, “Let’s face it, in the history of movies, except for porn movies, no one ever used the word ‘orgasm.’ No one ever said that. Bogart never said, ‘You know Louie, this was a great orgasm.’ Gable never said ‘Frankly, I don’t give a damn about your orgasm.’ No one ever said it. And so it was shocking when it was out there and it was such a provocative idea.”

Luckily, audiences proved to be receptive to all the taboo-busting. Recalling a Los Angeles test screening, Billy said, “When she starts faking it, they go bezerk. You couldn’t hear any dialogue. They laughed through the next scene. The roar, it was gigantic. I realized that Rob and I were now holding hands. We were gripping each other because it was so momentous a laugh.”

Of course, Meg isn’t the only Hollywood actor in her family. The son she shares with ex-husband Dennis Quaid has also established himself in Tinseltown in recent years. Jack Quaid first studied at New York University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, before landing his first screen credit in The Hunger Games.

The role proved to be something of a baptism of fire for the fledgling actor. Jack appeared as the villainous Marvel in the young adult franchise. And in a 2011 chat with Interview magazine he said, “When I got cast, I was told that people would be spitting on me in the streets.”

Jack has since become more renowned for playing a good guy. In 2019 he was cast as Hughie Campbell, a vigilante group member determined to thwart the world’s corrupt superheroes, in The Boys. Jack even picked up a Best Hero MTV Movie and TV Award nod for his performance in the Amazon original.

You may also have seen Jack appear in HBO musical drama Vinyl and as the love interest in feature film Plus One. He’s lent his voice to Lower Decks, which is an animated Star Trek series, Harvey Girls Forever, and Smallfoot, too. Other credits include box office hits Rampage and Logan Lucky.

And Meg couldn’t be happier that her son has followed in her footsteps. In 2019 she took to Instagram to point out The Boys had achieved an impressive Rotten Tomatoes rating of 98 percent. The actress also wrote, “Just killing it… so proud,” on a snap of the poster for Jack’s romantic comedy Plus One.

Meg also appears to have given Jack’s relationship with sketch comedian Lizzy McGroder the thumbs up. The Sleepless in Seattle star captioned a pic from her son and his girlfriend’s Frances Valentine ad campaign, “Just heaven.” It’s a good job that Meg is so enamored, too. From the sounds of it, Jack and Lizzy — who have been together for around five years — are smitten.

Speaking to Glamour magazine in 2019, Jack gushed, “I just went on an amazing vacation with Liz, my girlfriend, a year ago, right before I started season one of The Boys. We went to Mexico, and I had never done [a] vacation in another country with a significant other. It was really great and romantic.”

Jack’s father has also spoken of how proud he is that his son has carved out his own Hollywood career. The Great Balls of Fire star told Megyn Kelly on news show Today that he and Meg weren’t pushy parents. But Dennis revealed he always knew Jack was destined to become involved in the world of showbiz.

So, what was it like growing up with two Hollywood A-listers for parents? Well, during a 2016 appearance on podcast Allegedly with Theo Von and Matthew Cole Weiss, Jack acknowledged that the situation wasn’t exactly normal. But he insists Meg and Dennis are still very much parents first and showbiz figures second.

Jack added, “They’re not like their characters at the dinner table. You’re old enough to know what’s going on, but young enough to be kind of naïve about it. It’s a whole deal.” The actor also spoke about how his exposure to the showbiz world at such a young age has left him with the ability to spot a liar immediately.

As you’d expect, Jack has had to deal with accusations of nepotism ever since he started pursuing his acting ambitions. And by looking so similar to his famous father, the Plus One star has never been able to hide his showbiz background. Luckily, Jack accepts such talk is part and parcel of being a celebrity offspring.

Referring to his parents, Jack told podcast listeners, “It’s not that I want to escape from it. I’m a huge fan of both of their work. I also get that it’s interesting. People ask me about it all the time and it’s one of those things... I get it. I understand.”

Jack might not want to hide his famous family ties. But he does want to make it clear that he came to the acting game of his own accord. The star told the hosts that his folks wouldn’t even allow him to try out for any roles until his late teens. Jack added, “If I had just parents that weren’t actors, I would still be over the moon to have this job.”

While promoting The Boys at the New York Comic-Con in 2018, Jack told Entertainment Weekly magazine that he did sometimes find it hard to watch his parents on screen. The 1987 sci-fi comedy Innerspace was a particularly surreal viewing, as he explained. Jack said, “That’s an insane movie, and it’s a very weird movie for me, because both my parents are in it, and Martin Short’s character is named Jack, which is my name.”

Jack continued, “It’s just odd for me. I know they met on that movie, too, so cosmically it’s weird for me… It’s good, it’s weird, it’s cool. I had nothing to do with it, but if it wasn’t made, I probably wouldn’t have been born, so I’d say, ‘Good on that movie!’ yes.”

But it was Jack’s comments about another film starring his mother that grabbed the most attention. The actor told the rest of the panel he’d never watched When Harry Met Sally until very recently. But in preparation for his own romantic comedy Plus One, Jack felt he should finally take the plunge.

You can perhaps understand why Jack took so long to watch the movie that made his mom a bona fide star. He explained, “Guys, when your mother has one of the most famous orgasm scenes of all time, you do not jump to the film, okay? I saw it because I was doing a rom-com, and that’s like the rom-com.”

So, what did Jack make of the movie he’d put off from watching for so long? Well, it turns out that the Rob Reiner film reduced him to tears. And thankfully in a good way. Jack explained, “… Afterwards I cried for so long, because I was so proud of her [Meg], and I immediately called her, and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry I missed this movie.’”

Meg certainly didn’t seem particularly offended that her son had waited until he was in his late 20s to watch what many consider to be the defining film of her glittering career. In fact, the actress was relatively nonchalant. Jack recalled, “She’s like, ‘I’ve seen it like one time.’ Anyway, that’s my favorite of hers.”

Having previously never spoken about When Harry Met Sally publicly, Jack then couldn’t stop discussing the movie. During an appearance on Today in 2019 the actor once again explained why he’d avoided the rom-com for so long, adding, “You know that very specific problem that we all have.” He was also more than happy to recall how the film reduced him to tears.

And the subject also came up when Jack appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live that summer. The actor told the host exactly how he watched the movie. He said, “It was the afternoon and I was alone, and I finished it and immediately started crying because of how proud I was of her.”

While promoting Plus One at the Tribeca Film Festival, Jack recalled how he was finally inspired to watch the film he’d avoided for so long. He said, “In the rehearsal process we were talking about rom-coms and When Harry Met Sally came up and I made the confession that I had never seen [it].” But the rest of the cast were certainly aware when Jack had finally rectified that.

Jack explained he was still crying at the first rehearsal he attended after watching When Harry Met Sally. He added, “It was this weird moment where I’m like ‘Guys, I’m just so proud of my mom!’” And it turns out that Jack’s belated viewing ended up helping him with his own rom-com performance.

Director Jeff Chan added, “It was amazing because we were rehearsing a really pivotal speech that [Jack’s character] Ben gives toward the end of the movie. And I remember you just came in and you had tears in your eyes and then you were like ‘Let’s get started.’ And you just knocked it out of the park.”

Jack then revealed that one particular moment in When Harry Met Sally — no, not that one — was a major inspiration. He said, “I was thinking about the New Year’s scene in the movie and I was just like ‘Oh God.’ I learned so much — she didn’t have to give me any tips — I just watched what she did, it was incredible.”

And in a 2019 chat with Glamour magazine, Jack was still waxing lyrical about the classic movie. When asked about his favorite rom-com he replied, “When Harry Met Sally — I mean, I know it’s in the family. But that’s the one I watched when I was doing Plus One because the banter that my mom has with Billy Crystal is just… it was such a thing I was trying to get down in terms of the rhythm of that.”

Jack continued, “I think that’s a really important staple [of rom-coms]: having a good back-and-forth with your scene partner. Not that I took everything from that, but that’s a good jumping-off point when I started the process. It’s just a classic. Even if [my mom] wasn’t in it, I would love it.”

Since playing the leading man in Plus One, though, Jack has given romantic comedies a wide berth. He’ll next be seen playing Richie Kirsch in the fifth chapter of the slasher franchise Scream. And then in 2023 you’ll be able to hear him as the voice of none other than Clark Kent!

Yes, Jack has been cast as the voice of the titular superhero in HBO Max animation My Adventures with Superman. And it’s fair to say he’s looking forward to the role, tweeting, “Here’s a fun sentence I never thought I’d say: I’m Superman. So excited to be a part of this awesome show!!!” On this occasion, it’s unlikely he’ll need to watch one of his mom’s movies for research.