(Today marks the 25th anniversary ofSleepless in Seattle.)
But really, have you ever tried to explainAn Affair to Rememberto someone and done it without crying?
And then they hug."
“I said, ‘Can I try something at the end of this scene?’
And she said, ‘Sure.’
But she said, ‘Okay, try something.’
I love that that stayed in the movie, that Nora kept it.”
“So I love that Nora kept that in the script because she was picky about that stuff.”
Ephron was also a superb director throughout the project, Wilson remembers.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love that, I love that.’
She gave me that great note.”
But Ephron’s gifts as a director came as no surprise to Wilson.
In fact, they are what pushed her to lobby for a role in the film.
“I loved that she cast Carrie Fisher in those really vocal, fun roles.
The role led Wilson to discoverAn Affair to Rememberfor the first time.
“I had never seenAn Affair to Remember.
I knew nothing about it.
You want to do your best for someone.”
Wilson recalls that she knew she’d succeeded in delivering what Ephron wanted for several reasons.
“I think it was Nora’s gift to me in some way,” she says.
“I think she really wanted to share that moment that people are really laughing at your scene.
She wanted to celebrate that and give me that gift and see it before anyone else.
It was really, really fun.
It was an amazing experience.
In some ways Nora and I were similarly minded in terms of how we approached comedy.
And she loved women.”
“Nora really wanted to accomplish inSleepless in Seattlea movie that was classic.
“She also chose music that was music from another era, so it felt familiar.
We know those songs.
We associate movies with a certain kind of score, the Gershwins and that sort of music.”
AsSleepless in Seattleturns 25, it endures as a hallmark of its genre.
People really want to see a good love story.
I remember asking [Ephron] once, ‘What do you think it is?
Why don’t they make more romantic comedies?’
And she said, ‘Because they’re really hard to do well.’
And I think that’s absolutely true.
Sleepless in Seattleis being released as aspecial Blu-raytomorrow in honor of its 25th anniversary.
