Michele Singer inspired Rob Reiner to change ending of 'When Harry Met Sally'

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer's love was like the movies.

Or, at least, it was the inspiration for one.

Reiner and Singer, who were killed at their California home on Dec. 14, met on the set of "When Harry Met Sally" and married in 1989.

Reiner, the film's director, said in several interviews over the years that his meeting Singer, a photographer, changed the ending of the beloved rom-com.

“Originally, Harry and Sally didn’t get together. But then I met Michele and I thought: OK, I see how this works,” he told The Guardian in 2018.

Here's what to know about Reiner and Singer's marriage.

Rob Reiner met Michele Singer on set of 'When Harry Met Sally'

In a February 2024 interview on "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace," Reiner revealed that "When Harry Met Sally" initially didn't end with the title characters, played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, getting together.

"I'd been single for 10 years, and I couldn't figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody. That gave birth to 'When Harry Met Sally,'" he said. "I hadn't met anybody, so it was going to be the two of them seeing each other after years, talking, and then walking away from each other."

Instead, Reiner said, the original ending was only tweaked after he met his future wife.

"I met her while we were making the film, and I changed the ending," Reiner said.

As for how their meeting took place, Reiner told The Guardian that director Barry Sonnenfeld played matchmaker. During pre-production of "When Harry Met Sally," Reiner spotted a magazine with actress Michelle Pfeiffer on the cover. He told Sonnenfeld he was going to call her, Reiner told the outlet.

But Sonnenfeld nixed that: "You’re not going to call her, you’re going to marry my friend Michele Singer," he said.

The movie ends with Harry (Crystal) going to see Sally (Ryan) at a New Year's Eve party, where he tells her he loves her before they share a kiss. The characters married three months later.

Rob Reiner, Michele Singer family

The couple shared three children: Jake, Nick and Romy.

Rob Reiner also has an adopted daughter, actress Tracy Reiner. She is the biological daughter of his first wife, Penny Marshall.

Police arrested Nick Reiner in connection to his parents' death on Sunday, Dec. 14. He is being held on no bail after his initial bail was set at $4 million, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department records reviewed by USA TODAY.

A screenwriter, 32-year-old Nick Reiner has in the past opened up about his battles with drug addiction and homelessness. He told People in a 2016 interview that the film "Being Charlie," which he co-wrote, is loosely based on his experience. His dad directed the film.

Who is Michele Singer?

Before marrying Reiner, Singer was a photographer who captured the image of now-President Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his 1987 book "Trump: The Art of the Deal."

Reiner, a vocal critic of Trump, joked that his wife "has a lot to atone for," while mentioning her photo of him in a 2018 interview with The Guardian. Trump himself lashed out at Reiner after the couple's deaths.

Later, Singer collaborated with her husband as a producer on Reiner's 2025 comedy "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" as well as the documentary "God & Country" and the 2017 docudrama "Shock and Awe." They were both executives at Castle Rock Entertainment, the production company that Reiner co-founded.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at [email protected].

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Brendan Morrow and Edward Segarra, USA TODAY

This story has been updated with additional information.