"I wanted her really bad for 'Smokey' and they said, 'Well, she's not sexy.' And I said, 'You don't get it, talent is sexy'," Burt Reynolds recalled.
Burt Reynolds sparked controversy and raised eyebrows during an interview, where he claimed to have fallen in love with Sally Field when she was seven years old. The late Reynolds, known for his role in Boogie Nights, made the statement on NBC's Today show, stating that Field was the love of his life. Reynolds, who passed away aged 82 in 2018, starred together with Field, 76, in several films during the 1970s and had a highly publicized romance before ending their relationship in the early 1980s.
During the interview with Hoda Kotb, Reynolds was asked about the love of his life. His response garnered attention and surprise. He jokingly replied, "You're naughty, you really are. I'm dead in the water no matter what I say." He then admitted, "Well, she was seven when I fell in love with her. She stayed seven for about 11 years. I would say Sally." When Kotb clarified if he meant Sally Field, Reynolds confirmed by saying, "No, Sally Wolfergosh. Yes, Sally Field."
Reynolds also revealed that he fought to have Field cast alongside him in Smokey and the Bandit and expressed his belief that talent is what makes someone sexy, despite initial objections from film executives who claimed Field wasn't sexy enough for the role. "I wanted her really bad for Smokey and they said, 'Well, she's not sexy.' And I said, 'You don't get it, talent is sexy.' And she's got that," Reynolds recalled.
This isn't the first time Reynolds has expressed his feelings for Field. In a 2016 interview as reported by CBS News, he spoke about a sense of loss and hoped for a conversation with Field. He mentioned that Field's son had informed him that she talked about Reynolds frequently but had never reached out to him directly.
However, Field's perspective on their relationship appears to be quite different. In an interview with Variety, Field discussed her relationship with Reynolds, emphasizing that he was not good for her. She described him as controlling and stated that being around him was not beneficial in any way.
“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,” she told the publication.
Field published her memoir, In Pieces, in 2018, where she detailed her experiences with Reynolds. She revealed his controlling behavior, and although she didn't initially anticipate publishing the book, she decided to share her story. “I didn’t worry because I didn’t think I was going to publish it,” she said of the book according to CNN Entertainment. The contrasting views presented by Reynolds and Field shed light on their complicated relationship. It is clear that both individuals had distinct perspectives on their time together and the impact it had on their lives.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S-QW1nHpGQ
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/burt-reynolds-says-he-fell-in-love-with-sally-field-when-she-was-7/
https://variety.com/2022/awards/news/sally-field-oscars-norma-rae-hollywood-sexism-1235211178/
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/25/entertainment/sally-field-burt-reynolds/index.html
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L & R) Photo by Frazer Harrison
