Love Story Reunion: Ali MacGraw, Ryan O’Neal Recall “Sorry” Line, Actress Calls it “a Crock”

Prepare yourself… or, for those who are skeptical, this might confirm your suspicions—that the famous line from Love Story, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

According to Ali MacGraw, who delivered the iconic words onscreen in the 1970 tearjerker as dying cancer patient Jenny Cavalleri, the sentiment is a bit of a sham. She and co-star Ryan O’Neal, who portrayed her love interest, young lawyer Oliver Barrett IV, reunited for an on-camera interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which was published on Tuesday, June 25.

“It’s nonsense!” MacGraw, aged 75, exclaimed to the outlet, referring to the film’s famous tagline.

“You better apologize!” chimed in O’Neal, aged 73.

Love Story hit theaters on Dec. 16, 1970, based on Erich Segal’s novel (Spoiler alert: It’s even more heartbreaking than the film). The movie grossed over $106 million in the United States and marked the sole onscreen collaboration between MacGraw and O’Neal. Love Story received seven Oscar nominations, including nods for the lead actors and a Best Picture nomination (it lost to Patton). The film clinched one Academy Award, for Original Score.

The storyline of Love Story may resonate deeply with O’Neal, who has faced health issues and personal tragedies over the years. The twice-divorced actor tragically lost his longtime partner, actress Farrah Fawcett, mother of their son Redmond, to cancer on June 25, 2009. O’Neal himself battled leukemia in the early 2000s. Additionally, he underwent treatment for prostate cancer in 2012 and faced skin cancer in 2013.

In recent years, MacGraw and O’Neal had drifted apart.

“My house burned down in ’93, so I moved to New Mexico,” MacGraw revealed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite their physical distance, MacGraw and O’Neal have reunited on several occasions—first in 1987 at Paramount Pictures’ 75th anniversary party in Los Angeles, then in 2000 during a cruise ship launch in Florida, and again in 2002 at the Oscars.

“I love her and have always loved her,” O’Neal expressed to The Hollywood Reporter.