Sally Field during Tapeing the “The Bill Boggs Show” – November 1, 1977 in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

During a December 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Sally Field identified Burt Reynolds as her least favorite on-screen kissing partner. “Oh boy. Shall I really name names here?” she asked before answering the fan’s question. Her explanation was decidedly unromantic: there had been too much “drooling.” The revelation surprised Cohen, who pointed out that the pair had also dated. Field and Reynolds met while making Smokey and the Bandit in 1977, beginning a relationship that lasted roughly five years.

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Behind their celebrated chemistry, however, Field remembered a partnership that was not good for her. Speaking to Variety in March 2022, she said they had not spoken during the final 30 years of Reynolds’ life. While he later expressed regret about their romance, she rejected his idealized version of their past. Her account offered a sobering distinction: a memorable Hollywood love story is not necessarily a happy personal one.