Sally Field Opens up About ‘Real Life-or-Death Crisis’ With New Memoir

Sally Field is opening up about the journey of her real life in a new memoir, set to be released next week.

The actress opened up to Diane Sawyer about her new book, In Pieces, which is set to come out Tuesday, Sept. 18, in a new interview set to air on Good Morning America, as well as on World News Tonight with David Muir and Nightline on Monday.

In the sneak preview for the candid interview, Field tells Sawyer: “Right from real life-or-death crisis,” as first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

According to the sneak peek, Field will address some of the topics addressed in her tell-all, including some painful memories form her childhood and her relationship with the late Burt Reynolds.

Watch the sneak peek here.

Field recently opened up to The New York Times about the memoir, admitting that she was relieved Reynolds passed away before it was published, as it would likely hurt his feelings had he gotten a chance to read the book.

“This would hurt him,” she said of In Pieces. “I felt glad that he wasn’t going to read it, he wasn’t going to be asked about it, and he wasn’t going to have to defend himself or lash out, which he probably would have. I did not want to hurt him any further.”

During the interview, Field said their relationship was “confusing and complicated, and not without loving and caring, but really complicated and hurtful to me.”

Reynolds and Field met on the set of the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit and then co-starred on a slew of films. The couple broke up in 1982, with Reynolds saying much later in his life that Field was the love of his life.

In 2016, Reynolds told Event Magazine that he was still hoping that one day Field would call him.

“I did four movies with Sally and spent five years with her. She was the love of my life and I screwed the relationship up. That sense of loss never goes away. I have no idea what Sally thinks about it. She could pick up the phone and speak to me but she never does,” he said. “[Field’s son] said that his mum talks about me all the time. Maybe she’ll phone me one day. I’d love to have that conversation.”

At the time of Reynolds passing on Sept. 6, Field released a statement about her former partner’s passing.

“There are times in your life that are so indelible, they never fade away. They stay alive, even 40 years later,” Field said in a statement. “My years with Burt never leave my mind. He will be in my history and my heart, for as long as I live. Rest, Buddy.”

Also during the New York Times interview, Field revealed that she was trying to recreate her complicated relationship with her stepfather, actor Jock Mahoney when she was with Reynolds. Field claimed Mahoney sexually abused her throughout her childhood.

“I was somehow exorcising something that needed to be exorcised,” she said of her relationship with Reynolds. “I was trying to make it work this time.”