Ray Liotta Never Saw ‘Field of Dreams’ for a Very Personal Reason
Actor Ray Liotta served the world a wide array of iconic performances, including Field of Dreams. However, he never saw the movie for a very personal reason. Liotta didn’t originally believe in Field of Dreams, but he ultimately decided to take the part because of the rest of the cast.
Ray Liotta had an iconic performance in ‘Field of Dreams’
Field of Dreams tells the story of Iowa farmer named Ray (Kevin Costner) when he begins to hear a mysterious voice in his cornfield. He decides to build a baseball diamond on his land after his experience with the voice. However, everything changes when the ghosts of great players emerge from the crops to play baseball.
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson (Liotta) leads the charge of new players. However, Ray is about to learn the true meaning of the baseball field and it’s about a lot more than bringing a bunch of player back from the dead to play.
Ray Liotta didn’t see ‘Field of Dreams’ because of a personal reason
GQ once interviewed Liotta to talk about the most iconic roles of his career, including Field of Dreams. However, the actor surprised the interviewer when he told them that he never saw the movie and didn’t plan to ever watch it. Liotta had personal reasons to not revisit Field of Dreams.
“It has to do more with something personal that was going on at that time,” Liotta said. “So, when I did go to see it, my mother was sick, and we couldn’t stay. I just, I’ve never seen it.”
The actor went into detail about a specific character element that he disagreed with at the time.
“I bat, me, Ray, bat right-handed, I throw left-handed,” Liotta stated. “Shoeless Joe batted left-handed and threw right-handed. So, I was, they put me at USC with the coach of USC who had won 13 national champions and there was this guy Donnie Buford, who used to play for the Orioles, he was his assistant.”
Liotta continued: “So, I was practicing left-handed, and obviously, I thought they would just do camera tricks. Well, the producers and the director came down one day to watch how I was coming along, and they saw, since I wasn’t left-handed, but they batted really stilted back then, so I thought we could get away with it. And because it was only my third movie, I wasn’t gonna say, ‘No, this is what you have to do.’”
Liotta concluded: “They said, ‘Doesn’t matter. Shoeless Joe never came back from the dead, you can bat right-handed.’ I bat left-handed and throw right-handed, so. But, no, I’ve never seen it.”
The actor didn’t originally like the script
Liotta originally didn’t like the script for Field of Dreams. He understandably didn’t get the concept, but his relationships with the cast ultimately changed his mind.
“I wasn’t script savvy and I couldn’t imagine this guy digging up his cornfield to put a ball field there cease he was hearing things,” Liotta said. “It just sounded so silly to me. I just didn’t get it. But, I learned quickly that I was wrong. And what really convinced me was because James Earl Jones was in it.”
Liotta continued: “I knew Kevin because we all used to hang out playing paddle tennis when nothing was happening for any of us. Andy Garcia, Steven Bauer, they were all guys that ended up doing movies and we had this group before anything happened. And then I heard Burt Lancaster’s gonna be init, so I guess they think it’s good. (Laughs). Who am I to say it’s silly?
