Billy Crystal Recalls When Lin-Manuel Miranda Set Up a Screening of 'When Harry Met Sally' (Exclusive)

It's been 35 years since audiences met Harry Burns and Sally Albright. Though decades have passed since the 1989 film, starring Billy Crystaland Meg Ryan, was released, When Harry Met Sally remains a timeless classic.

Of course, Crystal had no idea back then that the movie, written by Nora Ephron, would become the iconic rom-com it is today. "You never know. You can't control anything like that. All you can control is your performance and your experience on it and then the rest is, who knows?" the star of Apple TV+'s psychological thriller series Before told Parade in an exclusive interview.

"The fact that it's endured all of these years blows my mind," he continued. "What's great about it is young people—well, everyone's young to me—when they see it, they're falling in love now, they're having relationship issues. They relate to Harry and Sally. It's what we call an evergreen."

Related: 10 Memorable Quotes from When Harry Met Sally

The beloved movie has even been studied by one of Crystal's grandchildren at school. "My granddaughter was a senior in high school last year, they were studying the screenplay and the film," the Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor shared. "And the kids flipped out when they knew that her grandfather was Harry. It's very interesting how it endures."

Just last year, Lin-Manuel Mirandaasked Crystal to attend a screening of When Harry Met Sally at a theater in Washington Heights. "He said, 'We'll screen the movie and we'll interview you. Would you do [it]?' I said, 'Of course, for you,'" Crystal recalled. "And they lined up starting at two o'clock in the afternoon for an eight o'clock screening."

The City Slickers star pointed out that the audience at the screening "watched it like the first time someone watched it thirty-something years ago. It's really spectacular that that happened for that movie."

New episodes of Billy Crystal's series Before will be released every Friday through Dec. 20 on Apple TV+

Next, Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal Explain the Origin of Your Favorite When Harry Met Sally Scenes