Ray Liotta Was Initially Confused by FIELD OF DREAMS Script, But Continued to Work with Great Co-Stars

Actor Ray Liotta began his career starring in many TV series before heading to the big screen in a series of numerous films that took his career to the next level, starting with Field of Dreams. The classic and beloved movie stars Kevin Costner as a corn farmer in rural Iowa who begins to get suggestions that he should build a baseball field amidst his corn crops, where the ghosts of past baseball players return to play.

Liotta plays baseball great Shoeless Joe Jackson in the film, and does a great job in the part, but when he first read the script, he was simply confused more than anything. The actor told Empire Magazine in 2012:

“But Kevin was already in the cast and I knew him because a group of us – me, Kevin, Steven Bauer and Andy Garcia – played paddle tennis together.”

Costner wasn’t the only co-star to attract Liotta. The actor continued by saying:

“James Earl Jones was cast, as was Amy Madigan, who I’d done a TV movie with. So I thought, ‘Okay, dead baseball players, but this has some really great actors – never mind Burt Lancaster!’ Unfortunately I didn’t do any scenes with him. But the first day he came on set I went down specifically to watch him: my God, it was Burt Lancaster! I was still a young actor, I was just taking it all in.

While they technically don’t share any scenes from the film, Liotta was able to say that it was part of Lancaster’s final film. And Liotta gave a beautiful performance in the film, which continues to be a favorite of many.