Sally Field says Burt Reynolds was both ‘wonderful’ and ‘frightening’ to her
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For Sally Field, loving Burt Reynolds was both “wonderful” and “frightening.”
The actress not too long ago sat down with People and seemed again on the defining moments of her life and profession. During the dialog, the Oscar winner was proven a photograph of herself alongside the late actor from their time filming 1977’s “Smokey and the Bandit.”
“It was a very complicated relationship,” the 79-year-old admitted to the outlet. “There were parts of Burt that were so wonderful and lovable, and then there were parts that were really frightening, and he was very much like my stepfather. It doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a part of me that loved Burt to pieces, but then I loved my stepfather too.”
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Sally Field and Burt Reynolds have been in a relationship for about 5 years, from 1977 to 1982. (© Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection)
“That’s the complication of what loving a very complicated person is, especially when you’re a child, because my stepfather was both wonderful and evil,” Field shared. “So, he taught me that love is wonderful and dangerous.”
“…I eventually could stand up to Burt and I could eventually walk away,” Field stated. “Because Burt wanted to control my work. He could hurt me, he could humiliate me, but don’t mess with my work because it meant more to me than work.”
Sally Field and Burt Reynolds starred in “Hooper” in 1978. The movie was launched that 12 months, proper after the success of “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977), in the course of the peak of their relationship and on-screen partnership. (Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
Field and Reynolds met on the set of “Smokey and the Bandit.” They had a tumultuous on-and-off relationship that lasted 5 years. Reynolds went on to marry Loni Anderson in 1988. The marriage ended in 1994.
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The actor died in 2018 on the age of 82.
Field beforehand stated Reynolds was controlling throughout their time collectively. During the sit-down, the star stated her breaking level got here when the script for 1979’s “Norma Rae” got here alongside.
Burt Reynolds died on Sept. 6, 2018, on the age of 82. (Getty Images)
“It was the beginning of me pulling away when he didn’t want me to do ‘Norma Rae,'” stated Field. “[He] called her a whore because she had some sexual past, and he threw the script at me because I was standing up. He said, ‘Boy, you’re letting this get the better of you.’ And I said, ‘This is the best of me.’ And I went, and I did meet with [director] Martin Ritt.”
Sally Field attends Netflix’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures” dialog at 92NY in New York City on May 3, 2026. (Dominik Bindl/Getty Images)
“I did the film, but it was the beginning of me finding my legs,” she stated. “And I really think the roles that I’ve been lucky enough to have … they changed me. They affected me. They changed who I am. And being Norma at that time was exactly what I needed, because to learn how to stand in her shoes, I could feel my own legs.”
The actress scored an Oscar nomination for “Norma Rae,” however Reynolds reportedly wasn’t impressed. In Dave Karger’s e-book, “50 Oscar Nights,” Field recalled how she needed to attend the Cannes Film Festival in assist of the movie main up to the Academy Awards. However, Reynolds wasn’t eager on becoming a member of her.
Sally Field and Burt Reynolds attend the “Golda” Gala on the Tower Suite in New York City. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)
“I have a hard time understanding what Sally Field told me about how unsupportive Burt Reynolds was,” the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host advised Fox News Digital. “This was at the time when she was receiving all of this acclaim for ‘Norma Rae.'”
“50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars & Filmmakers on Their Career-Defining Wins” by Dave Karger is on the market now. (Running Press)
“I got the sense in the interview that it all came as a surprise to her,” Karger shared. “But it also showed her that this was not a relationship that was meant to last. I think she realized that she needed to be with someone who was going to be more fully supportive of every aspect of her life.”
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Sally Field not too long ago seemed again at her life and decades-long profession in Hollywood. (Screen Archives/Getty Images)
Field additionally advised Karger that Reynolds remarked, “You don’t think you’re going to win anything, do you?” Reynolds additionally refused to attend the 1980 Oscars as of her date.
“He really was not a nice guy around me then,” she admitted, as quoted in the book.
Sally Field and Burt Reynolds attend the Los Angeles Television Critics Awards on the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)
Karger stated that even with Field’s admission, he nonetheless questioned why Reynolds could not assist the star on the time.
“I can only guess that there were issues of control and jealousy,” he stated. “[He] was uncomfortable with the thought of [Field] reaching the pinnacle of success in the industry. I think it’s really unfortunate that [he] couldn’t have been more publicly and privately supportive.”
Field stated she “didn’t know what to do” about not having a date for the 52nd Academy Awards. Ultimately, Field attended the award present with actor David Steinberg and his now-ex-wife, Judy.
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Film director Martin Ritt is accompanied by actress Sally Field and actor Beau Bridges after the screening of his movie “Norma Rae” on the Cannes International Film Festival on May 17, 1979. (Raph Gatti/Getty Images)
“David said, ‘Well, for God’s sakes, we’ll take you,'” Field recalled. “He and Judy made it a big celebration. They picked me up in a limousine and had champagne in the car. They made it just wonderful fun.”
Field took dwelling the Oscar for greatest actress that day. She would change into a two-time Oscar winner in 1985 for her position in “Places in the Heart.” By then, her romance with Reynolds was over. According to a number of reviews, the couple known as it quits in 1982.
Actress Sally Field and actor Dustin Hoffman smile after profitable “Best Actress” and “Best Actor” Oscars on the 52nd Annual Academy Awards on the Music Center. Field received for “Norma Rae,” and Hoffman received for “Kramer vs. Kramer.” (Getty Images)
In a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, Reynolds advised the journal that Field was the “love of my life.”
In his 2018 memoir, “In Pieces,” which got here out days after Reynolds’ demise, Field admitted he “was a hugely important part of my life, but for a very short period of my life … I really didn’t speak to him for the last 30 years of his life.”
“By the time we met, the weight of his stardom had become a way for Burt to control everyone around him, and from the moment I walked through the door, it was a way to control me,” Field wrote, as quoted by Vanity Fair.
Actress Sally Field is seen right here enjoying the title position within the 1979 twentieth Century Fox movie “Norma Rae”. (Getty Images)
“We were a perfect match of flaws,” she wrote. “Blindly, I fell into a rut that had long ago formed in my road, a pre-programmed behavior as if in some past I had pledged a soul-binding commitment to this man.”
Field awning The New York Times that her time with Reynolds was “confusing and complicated, and not without loving and caring, but really complicated and hurtful to me.”
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The outlet famous that in her e-book, she characterised their connection as “immediate and intense,” however he was additionally “controlling of her.” Field alleged he was uninterested and disapproving of sure facets of his life.
Actors Burt Reynolds and Sally Field seem in a scene from the 1977 movie “Smokey and the Bandit.” (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Field admitted to the outlet that she was grateful Reynolds wasn’t round to learn her memoir.
“This would hurt him,” she stated. “I felt glad that he wasn’t going to read it, he wasn’t going to be asked about it, and he wasn’t going to have to defend himself or lash out, which he probably would have. I didn’t want to hurt him any further.”
When Reynolds died, Field advised The Associated Press, “There are times in your life that are so indelible, they never fade away.”
Burt Reynolds and Sally Field are seated collectively on the Steak Pit Restaurant in Los Angeles, California, on March 15, 1978. (Galella Rum/Galella Collection Rum)
“They stay alive, even 40 years later. My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live. Rest, Buddy.”
