Sally Field opened up about being unemployable after starring in a ’60s TV show with a wild plot — but thanks to Jack Nicholson, a drought in her acting career ended.
During an interview with People published on May 9, Field, 79, spoke about the difficulty she faced following the fantasy sitcom The Flying Nun. The show starred Field as Sister Bertrille, a petite nun who could fly with the help of strong winds catching her wing-like religious headwear.
Field said that after the series ended, she “couldn’t get in a room to audition.” The actress recounted, “I couldn’t get on the list. They thought they already knew what I was. ‘No, thanks. We don’t want any of that.’”
Eventually, Field decided to throw herself into studying at the Actors Studio in Los Angeles, training under founder and coach Lee Strasberg.
“I had to say to myself that if I wasn’t where I wanted to be, I had to get better,” she recalled. “It had to be that it was on me to make it different. I felt if I wasn’t doing that, then I was just handing them all the power.”
Ultimately, Field said that Nicholson saw her working with Strasberg and recommended her to casting director Dianne Crittenden and director Bob Rafelson. She then snagged a role in the 1976 film Stay Hungry, directed by Rafelson, and also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jeff Bridges.
“So in some weird way, my theory was right,” Field pointed out. “I worked at the Actors Studio for so long — and it was so hard — that Jack had seen it and the word spread.”
The Flying Nun aired for three seasons from 1967 to 1970. In addition to Field, the sitcom featured Marge Redmond, Madeleine Sherwood, Alejandro Rey, Shelley Morrison, and Linda Dangcil, among others.
The Flying Nun, streaming on The Roku Channel and Tubi
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