Sally Field Reveals Her Worst On-Screen Kiss — and It Might Surprise You
At 76, Sally Field remains one of Hollywood’s most respected and beloved actresses. With a career spanning more than six decades, she has played unforgettable roles, won multiple Oscars, and charmed audiences with her authenticity and talent.
But even legends have their less-than-magical moments on set. And for Field, one of those moments came in the form of a kiss — one she recently admitted was the worst of her career.
Sally Field during a taping of “The Bill Boggs Show,” New York City, November 1, 1977
Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
A Storied Career
Born in Pasadena, California, into a working-class showbiz family, Field rose to fame in the 1960s through television classics like Gidget and The Flying Nun. From there, she grew into one of the most versatile actresses of her generation, starring in films such as Smokey and the Bandit, Norma Rae, Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump, and Erin Brockovich.
Her raw performance in Steel Magnolias, particularly the famous funeral scene, remains etched in cinematic history. And in more recent years, Field has continued to work steadily, appearing in Dispatches From Elsewhere (2020) and playing Jessie Buss in HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (2022).
But alongside her triumphs, her life story has carried pain. In her memoir In Pieces, Field revealed her difficult childhood, including abuse from her stepfather and a secret abortion at age 17. Despite the hardships, she has emerged as a resilient, humble figure admired both on and off screen.
Sally Field attending a red carpet event
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The Confession on “Watch What Happens Live”
On December 1, Field appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where a fan asked her to reveal her worst on-screen kiss.
Field laughed nervously before replying, “Oh boy. Shall I really name names here?”
When host Andy Cohen encouraged her, she gave in:
“Okay. This is going to be a shocker. Hold on folks. … It was Burt Reynolds.”
The audience — and Cohen — were stunned. After all, Field and Reynolds weren’t just co-stars in Smokey and the Bandit; they were also a couple off-screen, dating for about five years after meeting on set in 1977.
Cohen asked the obvious question: “But weren’t you dating at the time?”
Field explained that while filming, she had to “look the other way” during kissing scenes. The reason?
“It just was not something he really did for you.”
She added with a grin that Reynolds’ kissing style included “a lot of drooling.”
A Complicated Love Story
Field and Reynolds’ romance captivated Hollywood in the late 1970s, but their relationship was not without challenges. Reynolds, who died in 2018 at age 82, wrote in his memoir But Enough About Me that Field was the love of his life. He admitted to regretting how things ended, saying he wished he had tried harder to make their relationship work.
For Field, though, it seems the memories of their on-screen chemistry were not as picture-perfect as audiences believed.
A Legend With Nothing Left to Prove
Even with one less-than-ideal kiss in her career, Sally Field’s body of work speaks for itself. From her award-winning performances to her resilience in life, she continues to inspire generations of fans and actors alike.
And perhaps her candid revelation about Burt Reynolds is proof that even Hollywood legends can have awkward, messy, and all-too-human moments — the kind that make us love them even more.
In March, Field explained to Variety that she had stopped speaking with Reynolds in the final 30 years of his life with good reason.
“He was not someone I could be around,” she elaborated. “He was just not good for me in any way. And he had somehow invented in his rethinking of everything that I was more important to him than he had thought, but I wasn’t. He just wanted to have the thing he didn’t have. I just didn’t want to deal with that.”
Always have had nothing but high praise and respect for the works of Sally Field. Absolutely top-notch!