What Sally Field Really Blames For Her Split From Burt Reynolds
Sally Field and Burt Reynolds may have been together for several years, but according to the "Steel Magnolias" alum, they weren't exactly the happiest years of her life. Far from it, as she's said that while she cared for him, their relationship wasn't particularly healthy. In fact, she's said that Reynolds could be incredibly unkind.
Field and Reynold's complicated relationship began when they worked on the film "Smokey and the Bandit" in 1977. They certainly were a high-profile match, and were regularly photographed out and about together. However, their relationship wasn't to be a lengthy one. The pair parted ways in 1981.
In the years since their split, Reynolds made no secret of the fact that he wanted to reconcile with his Oscar-winner ex. He shared that he'd done several things to try and convince her in a 2018 interview with Conan O'Brien, which occurred a few months before Reynolds' death. "I do silly things. I drop her notes and postcards, and things like that. I'm going to start sending money," he joked. Asked by the host if he believed she was "the one that got away," he responded with a resounding yes. Well, he woofed but told O'Brien it was the same thing.
Field's response? "Well, yeah," she quipped in an interview with Sirius XM's "The Jess Cagle Interview" (via Entertainment Weekly). Big yikes. However, based on what Field has shared about their relationship, we're not exactly surprised by her sentiments.
Sally Field said Burt Reynolds was very controlling
In her 2018 autobiography, "Pieces of Me," Sally Field shared the previously untold truth about her relationship with Burt Reynolds. As it turns out, one of the biggest issues they faced as a couple was Reynold's need to control her all the time.
For starters, he was incredibly possessive. In "Pieces of Me," Field recounted that she was afraid of running into men she knew, exes or otherwise. If she did, she explained, "Burt would pinch my face in his hands, demanding I tell him who the guy was and what kind of relationship I'd had with him." That wasn't all. He also forced her to wear body makeup when he believed she was too pale, and even tried to stop her from playing the titular role in "Norma Rae." Reynolds' take, when Field had told him about the part, was, "No lady of mine is gonna play a wh***."
Field ended up taking the role anyway and was even nominated as that year's Best Actress at both the Cannes Film Festival and the Oscars. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Reynolds refused to go to both. Of the Cannes incident, she revealed in Dave Karger's "50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars 7 Filmmakers on their Career-defining Wins," "He said, 'You don't think you're going to win anything, do you?'" The joke was on Reynolds — Field won both.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
Sally cut Burt off, but she still cared for him
Given the way Burt Reynolds treated Sally Field during their relationship, it's not exactly a shocker that she opted to cut him out of her life, soon after they'd split. "He was not someone I could be around. He was just not good for me in any way," she told Variety about that decision. Field also addressed Reynolds' attempts at winning her back by talking about how much he loved her interviews. "He had somehow invented in his rethinking of everything that I was more important to him than he had thought, but I wasn't," she mused. Her take was that Reynolds merely wanted her because he knew he couldn't have her.
Despite that, Field has also said that she continued to care for Reynolds over the years. In fact, in an interview with "This Morning," she shared that even though she shared her truth in "In Pieces," she tried to give as balanced a view of Reynolds as possible. After all, she explained, "I certainly never wanted to hurt him any more than I already had."
In 2018, Reynolds died at the age of 82. His death came just days after "In Pieces" was released, and speaking to "This Morning," Field shared, "It was kind of horrifying that it was so close." Even so, she doesn't regret sharing her story. We're glad she managed to get out of such a toxic dynamic.