Hard to believe it’s been almost 30 years since Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan taught us that love can bloom over dial-up in You’ve Got Mail.
Videos by Suggest
The 1998 film marked the third (and so far, final) collaboration between the onscreen duo, following Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993).
Despite their onscreen chemistry, Hanks admitted he and Ryan weren’t exactly best buddies.
“I must say, Meg and I are not real close pals,” Hanks told Entertainment Weekly back in 1998. “We see each other every now and again. It’s like, we don’t hang out for coffee. … But when we pick up, we just pick up where we left off, and it’s an effortless thing that I don’t think either one of us examines it too much because if we did, it’d be a problem.”
“It’s just a natural thing,” Hanks told the outler about his chemistry with Ryan. “It’s like, why are we friends with the people that we’re friends with?”
“We don’t plan. We just do it,” he added.
Directed by Nora Ephron, You’ve Got Mail marked her second film with Hanks and Ryan after Sleepless in Seattle. The plot centers on two business rivals: Kathleen (Ryan), the owner of an independent bookstore, and Joe (Hanks), who runs a chain of mega-bookstores. The two unknowingly connect online (which was still pretty novel circa 1998) and begin to form an unlikely relationship.
“So much about this is, really, this odd examination of the franchising of America,” Hanks explained to ET back then. “This concept of big chain stores coming into neighborhoods and changing the complexion of the neighborhoods, for both the good and the bad.”
Meg Ryan Admitted You’ve Got Mail Was Her Intro to the Internet
Meanwhile, the project was essentially Ryan’s crash course in the digital world. For modern audiences, the film offers a look back at the early days of the internet, featuring nostalgic details like dial-up modems.
“They sent me a computer at the beginning of all this, and I had never even turned one on,” she said, laughing that her then-5-year-old son, Jack Quaid—now known for starring in The Boys—was already more tech-savvy than she was.
“It’s just so fun, and I love email,” Ryan said. “I just love it. And I got turned on to it at the beginning of this movie.”
Tech nostalgia aside, Hanks and Ryan were more than willing to lavish praise on each other.
“He’s a very inventive actor and really, really, really tries to find new things to do for every take,” Ryan said of Hanks. “He really challenges himself. You know, Nora could be done 10 takes ago, and he’d still be trying new and equally great things. I just think he’s fantastic.”
Hanks admired how Ryan challenged him to grow as an actor.
“I just go along for the ride,” he admitted. “But it’s like playing tennis with someone who’s a better tennis player than you are. Now, maybe you can beat them if you’re really on the game, but chances are, they’re going to beat you. And so it just makes you better. Then afterwards you have a nice lunch.”