The kids were laughing and asking to do it again, and the mothers were at ease. He ran back and spent the rest of the afternoon with the mothers to apologize and then took them to dinner. Burt describes that he didn’t need to say anything to the woman because she was already beating herself up. When the two were taken out of the car, they were both in complete and total shock. “I waited for the ‘thud, thud’ as we went right over them.” When he looked over, two mothers had fainted, and at that moment, he knew this was something with the potential to be devastating. “I was riding with her so we could get a camera up close on the right side so you wouldn’t know it wasn’t Sally.”Īs the terrifying moment continued, Burt recalls how the kids “completely disappeared” in front of the car. The woman who was driving immediately panicked, which he said he’d never seen before. “It’s petrifying when you think about it.” The Trans Am went over a wall and landed in a little league baseball game, and all of the kids’ parents were attending this game. He added, “she was capable and handy with everything but her hand on the car.” 1978 Pontiac Trans Am According to Burt, there was a scene involving a woman who doubles as Sally Field. The greatness of Burt Reynolds will never fade, and a clip has re-emerged about a harrowing experience while filming Smokey and the Bandit that was centered around a classic 1977 Trans Am, which Detroit Muscle paid homage to with their own Trans Am Tribute build. It was a hit film that earned $300 million, with only Star Wars grossing more that year. The film is about two bootleggers who attempt to illegally transport 400 Coors beer cases from Texarkana to Atlanta, Georgia. Smokey and the Bandit is an American road action comedy film from 1977 that starred the late, great Burt Reynolds.
Then the car headed straight for the field full of kids instead.Burt Reynolds Discusses Scariest Moment of his Career “I’ve never seen this happen before with stunt people.” She’s driving and she just panicked,” Reynolds recalled. The stunt double was supposed to jump a wall with the car, go around the game, and then jump another wall. But handling a car, that’s a whole other thing.” You could throw her off a building, do a fight, and stuff with her and she was very handy. “She was the sweetheart of one of the stunt guys,” the actor said during an interview with Power Nation. It all happened when Reynolds was filming alongside Sally Field’s stunt double, who was driving the car at the time. But one scene during filming caused multiple onlookers to literally faint with fear.
The movie was undoubtedly a comedy with tons of hilarious moments. RELATED: Why Burt Reynolds Said He Should’ve Married Sally Field Instead of His 2nd Wife Loni Anderson “And I still have one of the Trans Am’s from the film.” Reynolds recalled 1 scary incident from ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ “The film I had the most fun on was Smokey and the Bandit,” the actor said during a 2015 interview at the Macon Film Festival, CW Atlanta reported. Even he was surprised that it would up becoming the second highest-grossing movie in 1977, IMDb reported, second only to Star Wars.Īnd Reynolds said he truly enjoyed the project, too. Rookie director Hal Needham conceptualized Smokey and the Bandit as a B movie with a $1 million budget. ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ was a surprise success Burt Reynolds as Bo ‘Bandit’ Darville, in ‘Smokey And The Bandit’ | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images If it had gone another way, Smokey and the Bandit would have a very different legacy. However, an old recording of the late Reynolds revealed one scary incident that happened on set.
It also had a cultural impact that’s still seen to this day. Smokey and the Bandit was a critical and commercial success that spurred two sequels. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and attempting to smuggle Coors beer to Atlanta. The 1977 action comedy featured Reynolds as Bo “Bandit” Darville fleeing from Buford T. Burt Reynolds is a true Hollywood legend and Smokey and the Bandit is one of his most iconic films.