Sally Field talks aging in Hollywood and finding what's 'alive in you'

Plenty of A-list partners have shared the screen with Sally Field over the years, from Burt Reynolds, Tom Hanks and Robin Williams to Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton.

Add an octopus to that iconic list.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures” (streaming May 8 on Netflix) stars Field as Tova, a night cleaner at an aquarium who’s isolated herself from her life after the grief of losing her son many years ago and more recently her husband. She talks at length to her best friend, a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus, and Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina) addresses her in his own way with an internal monologue.

Marcellus “seems to listen, and who knows? My dog seems to listen," Field says. "I do know that human beings have a profound connection with creatures of all forms. They have helped us live our lives. We have to appreciate them, especially ocean creatures. We may lose them if we don't pay attention.”

An adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s best-selling book, “Creatures” is Field’s first major movie role since 2023's "80 for Brady." The 79-year-old legend has won two best actress Oscars – for 1979’s “Norma Rae” and 1984’s “Places in the Heart” – and isn’t stopping now, acknowledging there’s “some stuff” in the works. USA TODAY talks with Field about aging in Hollywood, being a celebrity and what’s on tap for her 80th birthday.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Question: "Remarkably Bright Creatures" tackles grief and loss. For the more emotional scenes, do you pull from a similar place that you did for, say, “Steel Magnolias”? Or does the inspiration change over time?

Sally Field: Well, if it didn't change over the years, then it would be old hat by now. When I did “Steel Magnolias,” for instance, I was in my early 40s. Now I'm almost 80. Your life experience changes, and if you're calling on old things, it's going to be pretty rote. You always have to be in the now. You always have to find something that is alive in you at this moment.

Do you have a way to cope with grief in your own life when it pops up? 

Well, luckily, I don't have a lot of dark grief around me other than the fact that I'm worried about the world right now, and I'm worried about my country right now. I'm sort of grieving about that, but that doesn't help anything, either. We all have to stand up and do something, and be motivated to speak out, and be responsible, and resist, and that's the truth. Do people have one thing they do if they're grieving? I don't have any one thing. You pick yourself up, you dust yourself off, you figure out how to do something productive to heal.

What does it mean for you to get such a rich role like Tova in your career now?

It's the same thing it felt like to get a rich role when I was in my 20s. I didn't have a rich role when I was in my 20s, actually, come to think of it. I had a rich role when I was in my late 30s, and then 40s and 50s and 60s and some of the 70s. But it's always been hard. I'm female, and I'm an older female, so it's always very hard to find characters that are worth leaving a piece of your soul behind, because that's what it is. Except your soul isn't left behind, your soul is actually enriched by it. You're taught by characters like this, by stories like this, as an actor. That's the good part of being an actor. [But] it will always be hard for me to find things, and it certainly is getting nothing but harder.

I grew up watching “Gidget” reruns with my grandma and also was mildly obsessed with “Smokey and the Bandit.” Do you find different generations coming up to you for different things as they're introduced to your movies and shows?

No. I'm in New York, which I am a lot, in my little apartment, and whether I’m there or in Southern California, I just look like an old lady. I usually have my Dodger cap on − yay, Dodgers – and braids and a ponytail and my old sweats, walking my dog. Usually, I don't have a flood of people that come up. Maybe they notice me, but I have been a celebrity my entire life, since I was 17. When that happens to you, and you're sort of taken out of the human race, so to speak − I don't get to be a normal person in the produce section − I have a habit of not looking up at people's faces. Because if you do, then they look at your face.

So I think I have formed a defense mechanism, a little like Tova's defense mechanism, to keep myself hidden away, protected. I'm very much a hermit, I've always been that, but I think that's only gotten worse as the years have gone on.

Do you have any big plans for when you turn 80 in November?

I thought maybe I'd climb Mount Everest. Maybe it’s a good time to do that. No, I don't have any plans for anything except getting through today would be good. And tomorrow might even be nice. By the middle of next week, I'll start to have a plan.