Sally Field at 65 is wondering what she's doing in a Spider-Man movie.
"No, I didn't read the comics," she says. "When I grew up, I read Little Lulu!"
An interview with the screen legend proves that our Gidget has grown up.
She arrives at a hotel in Soho in a white jacket, skinny black pants and with her brown hair falling lightly on her shoulders. She looks gorgeous, young, and her heels are va-va-voom high.
I ask her about being in the new "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 3D and she mentions that one person won't be in the audience today.
That would be Sally Field.
"I don't like watching myself at all. I never liked watching myself," says Field who stars later this year as Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln." "Most actors have difficulty watching themselves.
"Now that I've reached an age," she begins, "it's really hard to look. This movie is in 3D for God's sake. I wasn't good with myself on a TV screen!"
"I still grapple with it and say, 'Oh Sally, come on! Get over it! I want to see (director) Mark Webb's work and Andrew (Garfield) as Spider-Man.
"It's such a small vain little thing, but it's my small little vain thing!"
SALLY FIELD STARS IN "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN"
In the new "The Amazing Spider-Man," Field plays the long-suffering aunt of Peter Parker, a seemingly normal teen who turns into Spider-Man.
It wasn't a superhero that Field knew well. "Little Lulu was my girl. I'm sorry, but I can sing the theme song if you ask me to do it."
Yes, she sings it! "Little Lu Lu, Little Lu Lu....never mind!"
"I was a comic book fan as a kid, but the girl ones," she says. "Give me Archie and Veronica and Betty. But my brother read all the Spider-Man books and now he's a world-renowned physicist.
"He's three years older than me and really excited about the movie," she says. "So, finally I've arrived!"
ON THE SET OF THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
Sally says that she made sure never to watch dailies or playback of her work while filming this big budget summer movie.
"As an actress, the whole task is not to have a mental vision of yourself. Then you start imitating yourself," she says.
"You become aware of your physicality in a way," she says. "It's not good for you to have that in your mind.
"I love to watch young actors who seem so free and natural," she says. "Then by their third or fourth movie they look so pose-y."
REINVENTING SPIDEY
"It's more contemporary," Field says. "It's a metaphor for how hard it is to come of age today. There is a darkness in this young man Peter Parker. He carries it with him and is a troubled soul."
Her screen partner is Martin Sheen who plays Uncle Ben and her movie hubby.
"Marty and I knew our task was inventing this family," she says. "Many of my scenes are in the kitchen. For me, it was like shooting a little kitchen drama when it was really this enormous 3D film.
"The camera was so enormous, it was being held up by a bunji cord by guys who were perched above," she says.
"There was a little part of me thinking, 'Oh sweet Mother of God. This is a 3D camera and it's this far from my face.
"I will never see this movie as long as I live!"
SALLY FIELD BEAUTY TIPS
Field laughs when I ask her for her beauty tips.
"It's about feeling great. Work makes me feel this way. I take walks. It's about getting out there and living your life," she says. "That's better than anything in a jar."
"Stay active both mentally and physically," she says.
She also worries about the world.
"I think this Spider-man movie is a metaphor for how difficult the world is now. These big villains come in. You have to fight for the right thing," she says. "These villains threaten our existence."
"Boy, oh, boy, if this younger generation could have that feeling then they would step up and help the rest of us make things right," she says. "You have to make things right no matter how much it costs you.
"How do you make enormous change? Obviously, it doesn't come easily," she says. "That's what the movie asks during a time when the world is very difficult."
"It's crucial to ask the big questions," she says.
