REESE WITHERSPOON

The Big Little Lies and The Morning Show star adds yet another series to her résumé with Little Fires Everywhere (March 18 on Hulu). Witherspoon, 43, stars with Kerry Washington in the miniseries—an adaptation of the awardwinning 2017 novel by Celeste Ng—about how an incident of arson intertwines two Ohio families through their children.

What was it like working with Kerry Washington?

Kerry and I have been friends for a long time. Everything she does, she brings grace and an intellectual aspect to it. I wanted to go on this journey with her. [In the series], we represent completely different kinds of women and different kinds of mothering, but both with dignity and respect. The thing that I love about Kerry is that she cares as much as I do. She works so hard.

What’s left to explore on the second season of Apple+’s The Morning Show?

A lot. It’s not just #MeToo. We explore racism, sexism, homophobia—all the things that are happening in current news media.

You have a 20-year-old daughter, Ava (pictured). Do you take into consideration that she’s old enough to see everything you do?

Very much so. From the time I had her when I was 22, it changed my entire worldview. It made me a better person. We all struggle with trying to do the right thing and put great work into the world for our kids so they see an accurate representation of what the world is.

How do you choose the work you do?

Choices used to be made for me a lot. I made a decision about eight years ago to start my own company because I wasn’t happy with the choices being made for me, and I didn’t see a place to exist within the industry that we had.

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