Billy Crystal is remembering the late Princess Diana — and her unforgettable laugh!
While promoting his new series Before on The View on Wednesday, Oct. 23, the comedy legend, 76, revealed the late Princess of Wales’ reaction to When Harry Met Sally’s most iconic scene — which, if they had been dating, would’ve ruined the royal’s chances of a second date, he joked.
Princess Diana, who Crystal met at the romantic comedy’s 1989 London premiere, was “unbelievable” royal, he told the hosts. And her reaction to Meg Ryan’s iconic fake orgasm scene? Even harder to believe — at least the way the comedian tells it.
“There we are,” he recalled. “So we sit together. She’s on my left and Meg is on her left. So it’s me, [director Rob Reiner], Princess [Diana] and then Meg. So we sit down together in the balcony in the theater. And the trumpets are blaring as we walk in, which happens in every movie theater. And Meg’s like — she’s so cute — leaning in front like, ‘Do you believe who she is?’ It’s crazy.”
Then, the actors’ iconic (and slightly NSFW) scene — in which Sally (played by Ryan) loudly fakes an orgasm in a deli booth to prove a point to Harry (played by Crystal) — begins as Diana is wedged in between them, Crystal recalled.
“And then the deli scene happens and the whole audience below us is now looking back to see how the princess is going to react to Meg faking the orgasm,” he explained, adding that he had no idea himself.
“So she starts laughing — a big laugh,” Crystal said of Diana, mimicking a deep, throaty chuckle.
Diana’s laugh, he said, was “the kind of laugh that if we were dating, I wouldn’t see her again.”
“‘Cause I’d go, ‘The laugh. She’s beautiful but the laugh!’ ” he joked. “But it was spectacular, a spectacular evening, and so great to meet her.”
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While on The View, Crystal chatted about his latest project, Before, an Apple TV+ drama series that stars the comedian as a child psychiatrist helping a young boy through a haunting.
The actor is “so proud” of the show and “had the best time” filming it, he told the hosts.
“It’s something I had been working on for years, and didn’t think I was going to play this pediatric shrink who is dealing with this incredibly traumatized little boy,” he said. “But to live in this world and to do a surreal psychodrama thriller was absolutely thrilling for me.”
Plus, he noted, it’s a very different vibe than the exaggerated fake orgasms and emotional New Year’s Eve speeches of When Harry Met Sally.
“This is a long way from ‘I’ll have what she’s having,’ ” he said. “And I couldn’t be happier with it.”
Before premieres Oct. 25 on Apple TV+.
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