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Burt Reynolds might never have achieved the dramatic prowess of Marlon Brando or the industry influence of Clint Eastwood, but he was an undisputed star in his heyday, balancing rugged masculinity with self-aware humour. Movies like Smokey and the Bandit made him an icon of the 1970s, while his breakout role in John Boorman’s Deliverance proved that he could do more than project charisma.
Reynolds secured his start as an actor after an injury forced him to stop playing college football. He knocked around on television for a while, playing cops and hunky blacksmiths before he bridged the gap to movies. He hit the peak of his career in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, playing hyper-masculine characters in movies like Semi-Tough and Cannonball Run. He rarely appeared in critically acclaimed movies, but it didn’t matter; he was one of the most popular stars in America.
By the late 1980s, Reynolds' career was on the decline. His portrayals began to feel increasingly redundant, putting him at risk of turning into a caricature of his former self. Throughout this time, he faced a series of commercial failures, one of which led to his most challenging encounter with a female co-star.
The film was 1988’s Switching Channels, a remake of the 1928 play (and 1931 film) The Front Page, which was also adapted into the classic 1940 romantic comedy His Girl Friday. Reynolds stars as the director of a cable network whose ex-wife, played by Kathleen Turner, is his star news anchor. They spar constantly, but ultimately, of course, fall madly back in love. Unfortunately, things were not so romantic off-screen. In a 2018 interview with The Palm Springs Desert Sun, Reynolds identified the film as one of his biggest professional mistakes, pointing directly to Turner as the cause.
“That was the only leading lady I couldn’t get along with at all,” he confessed. “She had this thing about me and she was probably right. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. But, at least I was trying to be nice to everybody.”
When the interviewer inquired if he was referring to Turner, Reynolds casually responded, “Yep.” It was almost as if he was signaling, “Let’s move on to the next topic.”
This is a fairly diplomatic description of an unpleasant on-set experience, especially considering that Reynolds was not the only one who found Turner to be a challenging co-star. Although she was one of the most prominent actors in the ‘80s with movies like Romancing the Stone, Body Heat, and Peggy Sue Got Married, she frequently clashed with other actors and suffered a sharp career decline.
For her part, Turner was equally unimpressed with Reynolds and once said that he was responsible for the worst on-screen kiss of her career. In a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair, she gave her side of the feud.
“Working with Burt Reynolds was terrible,” she said, revealing that he made her cry on the very first day of shooting. “He said something about not taking second place to a woman,” she continued. “His behaviour was shocking. It never occurred to me that I wasn’t someone’s equal.”
It goes without saying that they never collaborated again.
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