Sally Field has been reflecting on the early challenges she faced in her Hollywood career — and giving Jack Nicholson significant credit for helping to turn things around.
In a recent interview, the Norma Rae actress spoke about the difficult years following her role in three seasons of the sitcom The Flying Nun, admitting that the industry didn’t see her as a serious actress at the time. Determined to prove herself, Field focused on honing her craft — a decision that eventually led to Nicholson stepping in and playing a pivotal role in changing the course of her career.
“I couldn’t get in a room to audition,” Field shared during the interview. “I couldn’t get on the list. They thought they already knew what I was. ‘No, thanks. We don’t want any of that.’”
Rather than giving up, the Oscar-winning actress said she decided to work even harder.
“I had to say to myself that if I wasn’t where I wanted to be, I had to get better,” she explained, calling the treatment she received in Hollywood “rotten” and “unfair.”
To improve as an actress, Field enrolled at the famous Actors Studio in Los Angeles, where some of Hollywood’s biggest stars regularly trained. That’s also where Nicholson ended up playing a major role in her future success.
According to Field, Nicholson noticed her dedication and hard work while she was studying under legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg.
“Everybody used to come,” she recalled about the acting studio. “It was packed. You couldn’t get in.”
Field revealed that Nicholson eventually recommended her as “an undiscovered talent” to director Bob Rafelson and casting director Dianne Crittenden, which helped her land a role in the 1976 dramedy Stay Hungry.
“I said to myself, ‘[My luck] will change when I’m good enough,’” she shared. “And ultimately, in a weird way, it happened because I was acting at the studio so much.”
“My theory was right,” Field continued. “I worked at the Actors Studio for so long — and it was so hard — that Jack had seen it and the word spread.”
Still, not every part of filming Stay Hungry was a positive experience for the actress.
In her 2018 memoir In Pieces, Field alleged that Rafelson made inappropriate requests during the audition process.
“In the midst of casually talking about the work, he told me to take my top off so he could see my b——, saying since there was a n— scene in the film, he needed to figure out how to shoot me,” Field claimed.
She added, “Ignoring the sharp jab of emotion that shot through me, I removed my shirt as casually as he had made the request, then sat for his approval with my eyes closed.”
She also alleged that Rafelson later told her, “Okay, Sal, the job is yours. But only after I see how you kiss. I can’t hire anyone who doesn’t kiss good enough.”
Rafelson denied the accusations in a 2018 interview with The New York Times before he died in 2022.
“It’s totally untrue,” he stated at the time. “That’s the first I’ve ever heard of this. I didn’t make anybody kiss me in order to get any part.”
Despite the painful moments she faced early in her career, Field went on to become one of Hollywood’s most respected actresses, eventually winning two Academy Awards and earning praise for decades of work across television and film.
