Kathleen Turner Recalls a 'Terrible' On-Screen Smooch With Burt Reynolds
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Kiss and Tell
Kathleen Turner is a great actress; Burt Reynolds was, too. But there are times when the chemistry between actors, when it comes to kissing, just isn't going well.
Turner revealed on "Watch What Happens Live" that her worst kissing experience in film was with Burt Reynolds in Switching Channels, a movie that was released in 1998.
Turner doesn't mince words, saying simply: “He sucked."
Damn You, Jaws
Turner explained how the matchup happened. One part of it was just bad timing.
“I had rehearsed with Michael Caine. 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 I was pregnant, and I had a stop date, but he did not.”
So Turner had to kiss Reynolds because there really wasn't any other choice. Reynolds died in 2018.
They Both Disliked Each Other
It turns out that the feeling was mutual. In 2018, Reynolds was interviewed on "Watch What Happens Live."
"Is there anything Burt won't blurt," says Andy Cohen in the lead-up to the interview with Reynolds, in a segment Cohen called "Plead the Fifth."
Reynolds was asked to choose who was the best real-life lover: Goldie Hawn, Farrah Fawcett, Sally Field... who? He wouldn't say.
But guess who he called out for being an overrated actor? Kathleen Turner.
Besides Turner, Reynolds also spoke of Donald Trump. He said Trump was doing "some good things," but also didn't speak too highly of the president.
"He's acting on his instincts, which are not good," Reynolds said.
Reynolds Was Rather Mean
According to Turner, it wasn't just the kiss that got low marks from her. Things sounded way worse than that on the set of Switching Channels.
“Working with Burt Reynolds was terrible. The first day Burt came in he made me cry,” she says.
Turner explains that Reynold's view of women while on the set was not up to date:
“He said something about not taking second place to a woman. His behavior was shocking. It never occurred to me that I wasn’t someone’s equal. I left the room sobbing.”
Just a Job
But Turner is a professional, and of course made it through.
“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."
Turner says she did what she had to do, but couldn't speak for Reynolds.
"But as for the performance, I was able to put the negativity aside. I’m not convinced Burt was."
