Sally Field Says “Easy Is Overrated” in Reflective SAG Lifetime Achievement Award Speech

Sally Field was honored with the 2023 Screen Actors Guild lifetime achievement award, marking decades in the film and television industry. Field, 76, accepted the honor during the award ceremony on Feb. 26 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

During the show, Field was introduced by her The Amazing Spider-Man franchise costar Andrew Garfield – who playfully heaped praise on the iconic actor – before a montage of her illustrious career highlights played and she took the stage to deliver a heartfelt and humble speech. Getting candid about her career, Field said of acting, “It has never been about a need to hide myself behind the characters of other people . . . [It] has always been about finding those few precious moments where I feel utterly . . . sometimes dangerously alive.”

Speaking of her journey from her early career in lighter roles like “Gidget,” Field acknowledged that while her path wasn’t easy, she knows others have had it harder. The actor told the crowd, “When I look around this room tonight, I know my fight, as hard as it was, was lightweight compared to some of yours.”

Still, Field said, “Easy is overrated. I’ve flown on wires and surfed in the ocean, rode on horses and wagon trains and fast cars . . . I’ve been Mrs. Doubtfire’s employer, Forrest Gump’s mother, Lincoln’s wife, and Spider-Man’s aunt.”

“There is not a day that I don’t feel quietly thrilled to call myself an actor,” she said. “Thank you, thank you for this great honor.”

The 76-year-old is the 58th recipient of the SAG lifetime achievement award, which is traditionally given to an actor “who fosters the finest ideals of the acting profession,” according to a press release from the Screen Actors Guild.

The two-time best actress Oscar winner has been nominated for nine SAG Awards throughout her career, winning outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series in 2009 for “Brothers & Sisters.”

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