Rita Wilson talks Tom Hanks' first wife and the huge role their divorce cost him
Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks have been a certified Hollywood power couple for over three decades, marrying in 1988 and welcoming sons Chet, 32, and Truman, 27.
The two first met in 1981 on the set of his pre-stardom TV comedy Bosom Buddies and then were reunited in 1985 for the movie Volunteers, although Tom was already married then.
Fans often forget that the two-time Oscar winner was married before Rita to actress Samantha Lewes from 1978-1987, welcoming son Colin, 45, and daughter Elizabeth, 41, with the star, who passed away in 2002 from bone cancer.
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In a new interview with restaurateur Bruce Bozzi on his celebrity iHeartPodcast "Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi," Rita, 66, spoke about her husband's first wife.
She mentioned specifically how their divorce cost him a part in what is now considered one of the most influential romantic comedies of all time aka When Harry Met Sally….
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Describing her early friendship with Nora Ephron, who wrote the 1989 film (and was nominated for an Oscar for her efforts), she revealed that Tom, 66, was in fact offered the part of the titular male protagonist.
"People probably don’t know this, but Tom was offered When Harry Met Sally...," Rita said, but continued: "And he turned it down because he was going through a divorce and he was very happy to be not married.
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"And so he could not understand that a person going through a divorce would have anything other than just like, 'I'm so happy'," she joked.
The film revolves around the title characters first taking a road trip together after meeting in Chicago and chronicles their chance encounters over the span of 12 years as they differ on ideas of love and battle the notion "can men and women just be friends?"
The lead male role in the Rob Reiner-directed film (which was also offered to Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Keaton, and Albert Brooks) eventually went to Billy Crystal, who starred opposite Meg Ryan in the film that made them rom-com legends, emerging as a critical and commercial smash hit.
In a retrospective on the film's 25th anniversary in 2014, director Rob spoke to The Daily Beast about the other actors in contention for the central parts.
"I talked to Albert Brooks about it," he said of the role of Harry Burns. "I talked to Tom Hanks about it. I talked to Richard Dreyfuss and Michael Keaton about it. The Meg role… We saw Molly Ringwald, but I can't remember how many people we saw there. But Meg and Billy hit it off right away.
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Thankfully, Tom did eventually get his chance to work with the late celebrated writer, stepping in as the lead character Sam Baldwin for 1993's Sleepless in Seattle opposite Meg, which Nora both wrote and directed (the pair reunited for another Nora Ephron vehicle, 1998's You've Got Mail).
Not only was Tom a part of the film, which was also a smash hit (and earned another Academy Award nod for Nora), but so was Rita in a supporting role (ironically playing her husband's sister, Suzy Baldwin).
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