Left image via Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images / Right image via Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection //

To be fair people have turned down films for much worse reasons…

Tom Hanks, the maestro of romantic-comedies and one of Hollywood’s most prized treasures, charmed audiences in Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. But it turns out he almost starred in another massive rom-com, however, he was too busy being “most divorced man alive” to complete the hat-trick of lovey dovey hits.

In a extremely random revelation, actress Rita Wilson (Hanks’ wife) spilled the beans in her recent appearance on the Table for Two podcast, explaining, ““People probably don’t know this, but Tom was offered When Harry Met Sally and he turned it down because he was going through a divorce and he was very happy to be not married. And so, he could not understand that a person going through a divorce would have anything other than just like, I’m so happy.”

The divorce in question Wilson is referring to was Hanks’ first wife Samantha Lewes, who he separated from in 1987. Luckily, it seems that there was a touch of destiny to his separation, with Hanks marrying Wilson the following year. While Hanks’ love life was in freecall, however, When Harry Met Sally director Rob Reiner considered a number of actors for his role before settling on Billy Crystal.

While the story (both on screen and off) seems to have had a happy ending, its still wild that Hanks turned down a quick buck (let’s face it, rom coms aren’t exactly the most demanding job for an actor) because he was too happy being single. The ultimate flex, if you ask us. Check out Rita Wilson’s touching on the whole ordeal below, along with one of the most iconic scenes from the 1989 classic above.