In Sally Field’s words:

“Burt Reynolds, who was this really big box office star at the time, called me and said would I consider doing this, which I was completely flabbergasted that he would call me and do that. And there was no script. So I just took a leap of faith, and thought, ‘If I play this character that Burt is supposed to think is attractive, maybe the world will think I’m attractive, and somebody else will hire me.’ So I did it.”