Veteran actor Sally Field has opened up about the overwhelming emotions surrounding her first Academy Award win, revealing she felt “sort of numb” when her name was announced for Best Actress in 1980. In a recent interview, the 79-year-old reflected on her journey leading up to the milestone moment, which recognized her performance in the 1979 drama Norma Rae, People magazine reported. “It’s hard to describe how all of that had gone down,” Field said, recalling the night she secured her first Oscar. Field described the years prior as a struggle to transition from television to film. “I worked so hard to get out of television. People wouldn’t let me in a room to audition. It was such a battle to even get onto a list,” she explained, adding, “But I told myself that I had the power to change within myself. I had to get better. Sybil was the beginning of the transition.” Though she had earlier found commercial success with ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ (1977), it was Norma Rae that marked her dramatic breakthrough. In the Norma Rae film, Field portrayed a Southern textile worker fighting for labor union representation, a role that earned her widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards, including recognition at Cannes. Despite the accolades, the Oscar night itself was emotionally overwhelming. “By the time I got to the Oscars, I was sort of numb. I couldn’t feel anything, and it was almost like too much,” she said, adding, “That whole year was almost too much for me to calculate, to put in my head. I really am not good at that part. I’m not good at doing the whole glam stuff.” Field also revisited the details of the ceremony in the book 50 Oscar Nights, recalling the simplicity of her preparations. “I remember I went someplace and had my hair done. I don’t believe I had anybody do my makeup. In those days, you just did it yourself,” she said, as quoted by People magazine. Her outfit for the evening was designed by Bob Mackie, though it wasn’t exactly what she had envisioned. “He offered to do it and he was such a lovely guy,” she said, describing the white strapless dress with a sheer floral cover. “But it was a little white suit. And I remember thinking, ‘Oh, don’t I get a princess dress?’ He (Mackie) said he thought I wasn’t that fancy. So I put that on,” she said, as quoted by People magazine. Field would go on to win her second Best Actress Oscar in 1985 for ‘Places in the Heart’. Reflecting on her earlier experience during her acceptance speech that year, she memorably said, “The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!”.
