Jack Nicholson<\/a> played a pivotal role in rescuing her early Hollywood career.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Sally Field has revealed Jack Nicholson played a pivotal role in rescuing her early Hollywood career after studios dismissed her as little more than the star of The Flying Nun<\/p>\n
After studios dismissed her as little more than the star of The Flying Nun, <\/p>\n
the two-time Oscar winner, 79, reflected on the struggle to be taken seriously as an actress during a new interview, explaining the success of her early television sitcoms left her effectively blacklisted from more substantial dramatic roles. <\/p>\n
Sally told People: \u201c(I) couldn\u2019t get in a room to audition. I couldn\u2019t get on the list. They thought they already knew what I was. \u2018No, thanks. We don\u2019t want any of that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The actress also explained she eventually adopted a personal philosophy focused on improving her craft rather than fighting Hollywood\u2019s assumptions about her.<\/p>\n
\nSally said: \u201cI had to say to myself that if I wasn\u2019t where I wanted to be, I had to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe added: \u201cHollywood may be rotten and unfair, but it had to be that it was on me to make it different. I felt if I wasn\u2019t doing that, then I was just handing them all the power.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDetermined to reshape her career, Sally began studying at the famed Actors Studio in Los Angeles under legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg. <\/p>\n
\nDuring the period, she regularly worked alongside established performers including Jack Nicholson, now 89, who was also attending the sessions.<\/p>\n
\nSally said: \u201cEverybody used to come. It was packed. You couldn\u2019t get in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe explained she immersed herself completely in acting training.<\/p>\n
\nSally said: \u201cI said to myself, \u2018It will change when I\u2019m good enough\u2019. And ultimately, in a weird way, it happened because I was acting at the studio so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAccording to Sally, Jack eventually noticed her performances during classes and recommended her to casting director Dianne Crittenden and filmmaker Bob Rafelson.<\/p>\n
\nSally said Jack described her as \u201can undiscovered talent\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nThe recommendation led to her first major industry meeting since Gidget, with Sally eventually landing a role in Stay Hungry, the 1976 comedy-drama directed by Rafelson and starring Jeff Bridges, alongside then-newcomer Arnold Schwarzenegger.<\/p>\n
\nSally said: \u201cSo in some weird way, my theory was right. I worked at the Actors Studio for so long \u2013 and it was so hard \u2013 that Jack had seen it and the word spread.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe added the role \u201cwas the beginning of the change\u201d in her career.<\/p>\n
\nThe breakthrough transformed Sally from a sitcom actress into one of Hollywood\u2019s most respected dramatic performers. <\/p>\n
\nThe same year Stay Hungry was released, she won an Emmy Award for the miniseries Sybil, before later achieving critical acclaim in Smokey and the Bandit, Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. Sally ultimately won Academy Awards for Norma Rae and Places in the Heart, while continuing to build a decades-long career spanning film, television and theatre.<\/p>\n
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