Sally Field is a living legend. With a career spanning over five decades, she’s delivered unforgettable performances in classics like Steel Magnolias, Forrest Gump, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Erin Brockovich. She’s won Oscars, charmed millions, and shared the screen with some of Hollywood’s biggest names. So when she recently revealed her worst on‑screen kiss, fans were shocked — especially when she named who it was with.
The Revelation
During a December 2022 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the 76‑year‑old actress was asked a direct question by a fan: Who gave her the worst on‑screen kiss?
Field laughed nervously. “Oh boy. Shall I really name names here?”
Cohen, ever the instigator, urged her on: “I think you should.”
Field took a breath. “Okay. This is going to be a shocker. Hold on folks.”
Then she dropped the bombshell: Burt Reynolds.
The Awkward Detail
Cohen was quick to point out that Field and Reynolds were actually dating at the time — they met in 1977 while filming Smokey and the Bandit and went on to have a five‑year relationship. So why was the kiss so bad?
Field explained that during filming, she had to “look the other way” because Reynolds simply wasn’t great at kissing on camera. She added that there was a lot of “drooling” on his part during their scenes together.
A Complicated History
Reynolds, who passed away in 2018 at age 82, reportedly expressed regret about their relationship in his memoir But Enough About Me, wishing he had tried harder to make things work.
But Field wasn’t having it.
In a March 2022 interview with Variety, she revealed she had stopped speaking to Reynolds in the final 30 years of his life — and she had good reason.
“He was not someone I could be around,” she said. “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.”
A Career for the Ages
Despite the awkward on‑screen moment and the complicated off‑screen history, Field has nothing but praise for her own body of work. From Gidget and The Flying Nun to Smokey and the Bandit and beyond, she’s proven time and again why she’s one of the most versatile and beloved actresses of her generation.
And as for Burt Reynolds? Well, let’s just say some kisses are better left in the past.
