Reese wants to work on universal and relatable movies
REESE Witherspoon wants to work on “universal and relatable” movies.
The Big Little Lies actress - who has also produced the likes of Gone Girl and Wild - is an advocate for strong women’s roles and looks for projects that will explore different aspects of the “female experience”.
She said:” I try to find things that are universal and relatable. My main directive has been, have a woman at the centre of it telling another aspect of the female experience.
“Gone Girl was like, ‘ Is she psychotic? I don’t know.’
“But it’s something that took an idea of the perfect girl and flipped it on its head.
“With Wild, I loved the idea of a woman versus nature, you see man versus nature all the time.”
The 41-year- old star believes it’s “harder” for women to be at the centre of blockbuster movies now, but she doesn’t think that was the case when she started her own career.
She said: “I have to say, when I started it was a good time for women’s movies too.
“Women were the stars of their own movies. I got in a window where I made Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama.
“I could be the lead. It’s harder now.
“You don’t often see women being the star of movies. I had people say to me, ‘We have one movie that has a woman starring in it this year.’ We don’t need another.”
Reese - who has children Ava, 19, and Deacon, 14, with former spouse Ryan Phillippe, and five-year- old Tennessee with husband Jim Toth - admitted her outlook on improving exposure for women changed when she became a parent.
She told Britain’s HELLO! magazine: “I had a little girl when I was 23, so it shifted my perspective of, ‘What do I want her to see in a film?’
“I grew up with Holly Hunter, Debra Winger, Diane Keaton and Meg Ryan. That’s what I want to see - a woman who is figuring it out and doesn’t know what her next step is..
“I have a mission to create those parts for myself and others, and for female directors to have the chance to tell women’s perspectives.
“I’d say the same thing about women of colour, women of different generations, all perspectives need to be represented.
“I’ve had enough of the same people telling the same dang stories. If we don’t see some new perspectives, society can’t change.”
I try to find things that are universal and relatable. My main directive has been, have a woman at the centre of it .... Reese Witherspoon