Sally Field has spoken frankly over the years about her relationship with Burt Reynolds, describing it as one that threatened to erase her identity at the peak of her career. The two met in 1977 on the set of “Smokey and the Bandit,” when Field was transitioning from television stardom to serious film work. The chemistry was immediate, and Field later admitted that Reynolds made her feel desirable in a way she had not experienced before. In her own words, Field said Reynolds gave her the feeling that she was sexy and that she wanted to be everything he ever wanted.
But she also acknowledged that the glow did not last. Beneath the spark, she said, was a pattern in which she began to disappear into the relationship. Field explained that she was behaving the way she had been taught, believing that to be loved she had to make herself vanish. By 1979 and into 1980, Field had become a serious awards contender with “Norma Rae,” a role that pointed her toward Oscar territory.
Reynolds was also at the height of his own stardom, but Field has said he was insecure about her success. When she was nominated for the Academy Award, she claims he was not supportive. She recalled a blunt exchange in which he asked whether she really thought she was going to win anything, right before she headed into the most important moment of her career. On Oscar night itself, Field remembered Reynolds being unkind and unwilling to accompany her.
She went with friends instead and won, while he stayed behind resentful. Field described that moment as cracking something between them. She later wrote that by the time she walked through the door, his stardom was a way to control her. Field has been direct about the damage the relationship caused.
She said Reynolds was not someone she could be around and that he was simply not good for her in any way. Her assessment was blunt: he held her down. In her memoir, she went further, describing their screen kisses as bad and even drooling, using that as a symbol of how broken the dynamic had become. She has also said she hated him more than anyone else in Hollywood, clarifying that what she hated was what he represented in her life: control, erasure, and fear.
Despite the pain, Field did not stay in his shadow. After the relationship, her career continued to climb, and she went on to become a two-time Academy Award winner, establishing herself as a force independent of Reynolds. Field never lost her humor, and she has framed the story not simply as a feud but as a transformation. The title of her memoir reflects the depth of the resentment, but her own explanation points to something more complex.
She did not claim Reynolds was a bad man overall. She said he was the one who nearly made her forget that she was her own person. In rejecting that, she rewrote the rest of her story.
