‘Love Story’ Movie Stars Ali MacGraw And Ryan O’Neal Chemistry: ‘Still Feel The Same’


More than 45 years after Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal took the world by storm in Love Story, Ali and Ryan are reuniting. According to Hollywood Life, on February 1 the movie stars visited the Harvard University campus together, the place “where it all began” when Love Story was filmed.

MacGraw, now 76, and O’Neal, 74, helped history repeat itself in what E! Online describes as a “beautiful twist of timing” when they decided to revisit the scene of their iconic Love Story movie dates “in style.” The former onscreen lovers chose to arrive at the fabled campus in a classic car that put onlookers in mind of the car their characters used in the movie. The antique convertible was perfect for the scene, and almost made it look like Ali and Ryan were the two young people in love from the classic movie.

O’Neal and MacGraw were in Boston because they’ve reunited in a different story of love. This time they are starring in a stage play, Love Letters. According to People magazine, the new play about love tells the story of two friends who are married to other people, but who “can’t let go of each other.” The two write letters in an effort to express their love and stay connected.

The play is a funny twist on the real story of Ali and Ryan’s love. When they made the film, they were also “both married to other people at the time,” but had an incredible chemistry onscreen that made everyone believe in their love for each other. According to Yahoo News, both actors admitted that “they had a crush on each other” while filming Love Story, even though they were married to others. MacGraw described how it felt to work with O’Neal in the movie.

“Ryan and I clicked immediately. We just had a chemistry.”

Revisiting the campus brought back some “fond memories” for both actors. During a special Q & A with students, the actors reminisced about the movie that told the story of love and marriage between a wealthy student (O’Neal) and a poor student (MacGraw), who dies of cancer. Ryan talked about how cancer ended up affecting him personally when his “longtime companion” Farrah Fawcett died of cancer in 2009.

O’Neal himself is in remission from leukemia, that same kind of cancer that killed his onscreen love played by Ali in the movie.

MacGraw, now in a good place in her life, shared how difficult it was for her after her “breakout” Love Story success, as she attempted to come to terms with the enormous changes in her life. Ali struggled with addiction and “walked away from acting” to eventually write about the problems she faced and how she dealt with them.

“It was a wonderful, wonderful adventure that was followed by some pretty dramatic stuff in my private life.”

Decades after their Love Story movie success and the very different life paths Ali and Ryan followed, fans wonder if they’ll still have the magic that captivated 1970s audiences and garnered seven Academy Award nominations. McGraw told People that their love is alive and the chemistry still works.

“It feels so great to be reunited. Our chemistry has not changed. We still feel the same about each other.”

[Photo by Associated Press]

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