Sally Field, the beloved Hollywood actress who once stole hearts on and off the screen, recently made headlines again—not for a new role, but for a refreshingly candid confession. At 78, the Oscar-winning icon appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where she revisited one of the most unexpected chapters of her storied career: her on-screen kiss with the late Burt Reynolds.
During the show, a viewer called in to ask Sally about her best and worst on-screen kisses. Without hesitation, she praised her Murphy’s Romance co-star, James Garner, as her favorite. But when pressed for the worst, she hesitated only briefly before dropping a surprising name: “This is going to shock you… Burt Reynolds.”
Reynolds, whom Field dated for several years after meeting on the set of Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, may have shared an intense off-screen romance with her, but their chemistry didn’t always translate behind the scenes. “I tried to look the other way and say, ‘Well, that was just then,’” she admitted. “But it just wasn’t something he did very well.” When Cohen pushed for details, jokingly asking if it was a “tongue issue,” Field smirked and said, “Not totally involved—just a lot of drooling.”
The audience roared with laughter, but there was a deeper layer to her story—one she has shared before. In her memoir In Pieces and in later interviews, Field painted a picture of a relationship that was far from ideal. “He was not someone I could be around,” she revealed in a past interview. “He wasn’t good for me in any way.” She explained that Reynolds had later romanticized their relationship, believing she was more important to him than he’d initially realized. But for Field, the truth was simpler: “He just wanted what he didn’t have. And I didn’t want to deal with that.”
Despite the fame, the films, and the tabloid-worthy romance, Sally Field chose to speak her truth—not with bitterness, but with clarity. Now in her late seventies, she continues to captivate audiences, not just with her acting talent, but with her honesty, wit, and resilience. Her story is a reminder that even the most glamorous love stories can have their cracks, and that sometimes the most beautiful growth happens far from the spotlight.
Seeing her today—smiling, confident, and unafraid to speak openly about the past—is enough to make anyone admire her even more. The “heartbreaker” of decades past is now a woman whose strength lies not in the roles she played, but in the life she chose to live beyond the camera.