Sally Field Says Her Son Has Always Joked That "Steel Magnolias" Is Probably Why He Is Gay — and Her Reaction Says Everything

May 12, 2026 by apost team

There are films that shape a generation, and then there are films that shape a family. For Sally Field, the 1989 drama "Steel Magnolias" did both — and in a way she never could have predicted when she arrived on set in Louisiana with a six-month-old baby on her hip.

Field, born Nov. 6, 1946, spent the production surrounded by some of the most iconic women in Hollywood. Her co-stars were Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and a relatively unknown Julia Roberts, who would go on to receive her first Academy Award nomination for the role. The cast, by Field's own account, was inseparable — shopping on weekends, gathering at each other's houses, playing games, looking out for each other. "We loved each other, all of us," she told PEOPLE in a new interview promoting the Netflix film "Remarkably Bright Creatures," in which she stars. "We all just completely adored each other."

The baby she brought to set was her youngest son, Sam Greisman, born Dec. 19, 1987, whom she shares with her second husband, film producer Alan Greisman. She also has two older sons — Peter, born in 1969, and Eli, born in 1972 — from her first marriage to Steven Craig.

In her office, Field keeps a photograph from the wrap party. It shows her, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Julia Roberts looking off toward a live band — all of them packed into a tight frame. "On my chest is my little son Sam," she said. "I'm holding his head because I'm trying to save his ears because it was loud."

Sam was on that set constantly, cradled in the arms of women who have since become gay icons. And he has a theory about what that did to him.

Sam Greisman, born Dec. 19, 1987, is an out gay man and writer who came out publicly in 2012. He has written about his relationship with his mother with candor and warmth — describing her in a 2023 PEOPLE essay as a "safe space" and a "hip I was attached to," and noting, with characteristic humor, that "gay men feel a certain undeniable affection for award-winning actresses."

The joke he has always made about "Steel Magnolias" fits perfectly into that dynamic. "Sam has always said that that's probably why he's gay," Field told PEOPLE, laughing. The line landed immediately — and so did the warmth behind it. Growing up in the care of Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts, and his mother, while the cameras rolled on a film that would become a touchstone of the LGBTQ+ community, is the kind of origin story that writes itself.

Field has long been an outspoken ally. She received the Human Rights Campaign's Ally for Equality Award in 2012, the same year Sam came out publicly. The relationship between them has been, by both accounts, one of profound mutual support. "She has taught me that life, like art, is about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off, like she has done countless times," Sam wrote in 2023. "And luckily for me, I know that when I fall she will be there to pick me up."

For Field, looking back at "Steel Magnolias" is not just about revisiting a beloved film. It is about revisiting a chapter of her life when her career and her family overlapped in a way that turned out to shape them both. "Just a wonderful, wonderful experience," she said simply. The photograph in her office says the rest.

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