Sally Field’s unforgettable performance in Norma Rae (1979) solidified her place as one of the finest actresses in Hollywood. Playing a courageous woman fighting for workers’ rights, Sally captured the hearts of audiences everywhere, earning her an Academy Award. However, her journey to this defining moment wasn’t easy—it was filled with emotional struggles, doubts, and even physical pain.
In the movie, Sally plays Norma Rae, a textile worker determined to make a difference for her colleagues by standing up to the powerful company she works for. Her performance became a symbol of the ongoing fight for worker rights—rights like the 40-hour workweek, healthcare, and minimum wage.
It’s hard to imagine a world without unions and their crucial role in securing these rights, even for those who are not part of them. Norma Rae’s story, though fictionalized, is based on a real woman, Crystal Lee Sutton, whose fight for union rights in the 1970s made waves.
But behind Sally’s glowing achievement, there was a personal cost. Before Norma Rae, Sally was struggling to escape her early TV roles as The Flying Nun and Gidget. Hollywood didn’t take her seriously, and she felt the pressure to prove her worth.
When the opportunity to play Norma Rae came along, she knew it could be the role that would change everything for her. Yet, it wasn’t an easy decision, especially because her then-boyfriend, the famous actor Burt Reynolds, wasn’t supportive of her choice.
Burt Reynolds, who had a complicated and often difficult relationship with Sally, didn’t want her to take on the role of Norma Rae. He famously told her, “No lady of mine is gonna play a whore.” When Sally tried to explain the role wasn’t who she was, Reynolds mocked her, saying, “Oh, so now you’re an actor… you’re letting your ambition get the better of you.”
Despite his disapproval, Sally decided to go ahead with the film, determined to show the world what she could do.
The emotional toll on Sally was immense. When she first watched the film, sitting next to her mother in a small screening room, she was filled with fear. “What flashed through my head was the fear that I wasn’t enough to hold an audience for two hours,” she said. But she pushed through and gave a performance that would go down in history.
Her relationship with Burt Reynolds also took a significant hit during the making of Norma Rae. Their connection had begun after he asked her to star in Smokey and the Bandit, and they quickly became one of Hollywood’s hottest couples.
But as their relationship grew, Reynolds became controlling and unsupportive. He “housebroke” Sally, trying to tell her what was allowed and what was not. This led her to feel like a shadow of herself.
Despite Burt’s objections, Sally threw herself into the role of Norma Rae. On the final day of filming, Reynolds showed up on set and proposed to her with a diamond ring. Sally, unsure and overwhelmed, didn’t accept. “It felt not me,” she said, and the awkward exchange left her with nothing to say but a simple, “thank you.”
After filming Norma Rae, Sally began to find herself again. The role gave her the strength to become more independent. She noticed her personality “flare out,” and that didn’t sit well with Reynolds. His response? “Shocked disapproval.”
Sally didn’t just act in Norma Rae—she lived it. She spent two weeks working in a mill to prepare for the role. She didn’t just act like the workers; she truly immersed herself in their world. Sally said, “I worked in the mill every day for two weeks; not all day long, I didn’t have an 8-hour shift, but I felt like it.
I guarantee, two hours in that weaving room felt like 8 hours anywhere else because the vibration is like the motion on a ship, the whole room shakes, and it makes you seasick.”
The film’s production took place in Opelika, Alabama, though the real story of Crystal Lee Sutton, who inspired Norma Rae, took place in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. The locals of Opelika helped bring the film to life, with many of them stepping in as extras for the factory worker scenes.
The excitement in the town was palpable as Hollywood arrived, and although Burt Reynolds did visit the set a few times, it was Sally Field who truly left a lasting impression on the local community. “She was a lovely lady,” said Warner Williams from the Opelika Chamber of Commerce. “Days before filming, she wore old ragged clothes and hung around the mill, psyching up for her character.”
Crystal Lee Sutton, the real-life Norma Rae, was born in 1940 and spent her life working in textile mills. By the time she was 33, she had three children and worked at a plant, earning a wage of $2.65 per hour. Sutton became known for her courage when she stood up for the rights of workers and was fired for her pro-union activism.
Her story was immortalized in Norma Rae, but she didn’t agree with how the film turned out. Sutton thought it should have been more of a docu-drama, focusing on the educational aspects of union organizing rather than a “soap-opera love story.”
Sally Field, too, was deeply moved when she saw the film for the first time. “The overwhelming reaction from the audience at the premiere brought me to tears,” she said.
Despite the success of the movie, Sutton didn’t profit from it. She had to sue 20th Century-Fox to receive a small settlement, getting $52,000, half of which went to taxes. She used the remaining money to buy her third husband a secondhand Pontiac Trans-Am, saying, “He helped me and supported me through all this, and he deserved something.”
The connection between Sally and Crystal Lee Sutton culminated in a touching meeting in California in 1980, where they posed together, their hands raised in triumph, just like the character of Norma Rae. Sutton recalled, “We talked about children. She told me if ever there was anything she could do for me, let her know.”
But the story doesn’t end there. The iconic scene in the film where Norma Rae writes “UNION” on a piece of cardboard and holds it up for all to see is based on a real moment in Crystal Lee Sutton’s life.
“I took a piece of cardboard and wrote the word UNION on it in big letters,” Sutton recalled. “I got up on my work table, and slowly turned it around. The workers started cutting their machines off and giving me the victory sign. All of a sudden, the plant was very quiet.”
The story behind Norma Rae is one of perseverance, courage, and dedication. Sally Field’s performance in the film continues to inspire generations, proving that success doesn’t come easy—it is fought for, just like the workers’ rights that Norma Rae, and Crystal Lee Sutton, stood up for.
And as Sally Field herself said when reflecting on her award-winning performance, “You don’t expect to win anything, do you?” Yet, she did—and the world will never forget it. What do you think of the story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
