Actor Jaclyn Smith is opening up about the making of Charlie’s Angels as the series approaches its 50th anniversary on Sept. 22. According to People Magazine, the 80-year-old reflects on everything from contract battles to cast changes and the atmosphere during the final season. Smith, who played Kelly Garrett from the 1976 debut through the 1981 finale, says the show’s legacy still follows her daily, from fan photo requests to keepsakes in her Los Angeles home. Her new memoir and interview trace the pressure, fame and friendships behind one of television’s biggest hits.

Jaclyn Smith Fought for Equal Pay Early On

Before filming began, Smith says she learned she had been offered less money than costars Farrah Fawcett and Kate Jackson. Jackson was set to earn $10,000 per episode, while Fawcett was offered $5,000 and Smith $3,000. Smith pushed back, arguing that her experience matched Fawcett’s and that the pay should reflect that. “I was probably a little more aggressive about that than today,” Smith said according to People Magazine. She ended up securing a raise, a move that shaped her view of business long before salary equity became a regular Hollywood headline.

Farrah Fawcett’s Exit Changed the Cast Dynamic

Smith also recalls how much the original trio shifted after Fawcett left following the first season. The departure hit Jackson especially hard and altered the balance on set. Cheryl Ladd later joined as Kris Munroe, helping fill the vacancy but bringing a different energy to the group. Smith describes Jackson as intense and deeply invested, while Ladd had a more relaxed approach. That left Smith in the middle at times, trying to navigate two very different personalities while the series kept moving at a fast pace and public interest stayed high.

Tanya Roberts Made a Bold Personal Proposal

Later cast changes brought Shelley Hack and then Tanya Roberts into the lineup. In her memoir, Smith describes Roberts as open about her marriage and direct about her personal life. During a flight to Hawaii for location shooting, Smith says Roberts asked her to join her and husband Barry Roberts for a thre3some. Smith declined, but she writes that she still viewed Roberts’ candor as unusually frank. The anecdote adds another layer to Smith’s portrait of the workplace culture surrounding the series during its later years, when the cast was no longer the original ensemble viewers first embraced.

Final Season Brought Drug Use and Lasting Bonds

The fifth and last season was, by Smith’s account, the hardest period behind the scenes. She writes that cocaine had become a regular presence on set and that she increasingly retreated to her motor home to avoid it. Smith says she never used the drug and had no interest in being around it, especially as the production neared its end. Even with those strains, her connection with Fawcett and Jackson endured. “After the applause, the friendship is still there,” Smith told People Magazine. That bond, she says, outlasted the fame, turnover and turmoil.