Meg Ryan, 62, hilariously accused Billy Crystal, 75, of making it “easy” for her to fake her onscreen orgasm for a legendary scene from their 1989 romcom, When Harry Met Sally. “The scene came really naturally to me, and I really have Billy to thank for that,” the blonde beauty said during the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. “I’ve actually never been around anyone who made faking an orgasm easier,” she quipped. “So thank you, Billy.”
Billy collected an award for lifetime artistic achievement alongside actor and rapper Queen Latifah, singer Dionne Warwick, pop icon Barry Gibb, and soprano vocalist Renée Fleming at the December 3 ceremony. President Joe Biden was in attendance at the high-profile festivities.
Of course, Meg’s playful jab paid homage to the unforgettable scene in which their characters meet up at Katz’s Deli, where Sally fakes a convincing orgasm, with a woman nearby quipping, “I’ll have what she’s having.” “The characters just came alive,” Meg recalled of filming the scene. “And just meeting him. I don’t know. How could you not love Billy Crystal?”
The You’ve Got Mail beauty further gushed about her co-star and the “heart” he infuses into his characters. “Of course, Harry is a very broad character: noxious, insensitive and terrified of commitment,” she said of Billy’s role in the film. “But if you take out all of Harry’s flaws, what you have underneath is pure Billy. And what he brings to all of his characters is heart. Harry is his heart because Billy listens to his [heart,] and as his wife, Janice, has known for over 50 years — falling in love with Billy is a pretty easy thing to do.”
Billy spoke out about the beloved film’s impact on the red carpet at the celebration. “As you get further along and new generations see this movie and feel it and watch it over and over again on Valentine’s Day, on New Year’s Eve, whatever it is,” he told PEOPLE at the event. “You know, people fall in love every day, and people fall out of love every day. This movie is an evergreen that way. It’s a beautiful thing.”