Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Rita Moreno recently appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to talk about their athletic backgrounds. Field recalled that when she was in high school, she was a cheerleader and “didn’t know of any sports that women played.” Field was surprised when a photo of her in her cheerleading uniform was shown on screen, prompting her to exclaim “Oh, good God in heaven!”
“I didn’t know any women went out for sports. That was it,” Field said of her high school days. “That was the sport I knew of … that was before [the television series Gidget], that was in high school. I wasn’t Gidget yet, but she lived inside me.”
Tomlin also shared her athletic background, recalling how she used to play softball in school, with Field adding that Fonda’s first workout place was in the San Fernando Valley, with Field having worked out there, “right behind her.”
“I actually used to — [Fonda’s] first workout place was in the [San Fernando Valley],” Field said. “I used to go [there] because I lived in the Valley, and one day there she was, teaching the class, and it was jaw-dropping. I was working out right behind her.”
Field was recently honored with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award at the SAG Awards in February. In her acceptance speech, Field spoke about her first role in the sitcom Gidget and said she “never knew what I would say or do” while learning to act onstage. She also commended other actors in the room for their own difficult journeys toward success.
“I wasn’t looking for the applause or the attention, even though that’s nice … sometimes,” Field said. “And it was never about a need to hide myself behind the characters of other people. Acting to me has always been about finding those few precious moments when I feel totally, utterly, sometimes dangerously alive. So the task has always been to find a way to get to that, to get to the work, to claw my way to it if necessary.”
Field’s career spans from her first starring role in Gidget in the 1960s to her most recent roles in 80 for Brady and The Kelly Clarkson Show. She has won multiple awards throughout her career, including two Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards.
