Burt Reynolds, is back on our screens today in the iconic Smokey and the Bandit. The biggest Hollywood box office star from 1978-1982, he had a career resurgence before his death in 2018 with roles in The Last Movie Star and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
Back on the promotional trail one last time, he soon reignited a four-decade feud. During an episode of Watch What Happens: Live, host Andy Cohen asked Reynolds who he thought was the “most overrated actor of the 1970s and 1980s”. Without hesitation, he responded, “Kathleen Turner.”
It all started when they starred together in the 1988 comedy Switching Channels where Turner had top billing. She had also been quick to remind everyone that her original leading man was someone she had desperately wanted to work with. Her co-star Christopher Reeve also revealed he had only signed on to work with the same legend. He also found himself having to mediate between the two main stars.
Just look at that poster image above. Sure, the characters are supposed to be clashing but it doesn’t look like Turner needed to do much acting.
When Turner appeared on the same chat show a few months later, Cohen reminded her that she’d previously told him William Hurt was her best on-screen kisser. He then asked who was the worst and Turner didn’t hesitate: “Oh, that would have to be Burt Reynolds,” before adding, “He sucked.”
In fact, the chemistry between the duo was much worse than a few awkward smooches, causing the horrified crew to “take sides.”
While chatting with Cohen, Turner confessed: “I was supposed to do the film with Michael Caine. Good choice, right? Well, Michael Caine got caught on Jaws 4, the shark kept breaking down, and so I was pregnant and I had a stop date, but he did not. So we shot everything we could without him, and then finally the producer went and hired Burt Whatshisface.”
During another interview in 2018, Turner opened up about the rough start of her association with Reynolds which never improved over time. Speaking to Vulture, she admitted: “Working with Burt Reynolds was terrible. The first day Burt came in he made me cry. He said something about not taking second place to a woman.
“His behaviour was shocking. It never occurred to me that I wasn’t someone’s equal. I left the room sobbing. I called my husband and said, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ He said, ‘You just do the job.’
“It got to be very hostile because the crew began taking sides. But as for the performance, I was able to put the negativity aside. I’m not convinced Burt was.”
The film’s reception mirrored the on-set tension. Switching Channels was a major flop and only managed to bank $9million at the box office, a stark contrast to its nearly $30million production costs.
Both Reynolds and Reeve received Golden Raspberry nominations for Worst Actor and Supporting Actor. The Superman actor later stated that shooting the film he had felt like “a fool”, especially painful since he had only signed on to work with Caine. He later added that the dud had done so much harm to his career that he had to star auditioning for roles again, as he had when he was starting out in Hollywood.