Let’s take a trip back in time — further back even than 1991, when an adorably precocious 14-year-old Reese Witherspoon, star of “The Man in the Moon,” sat down for her first-ever MTV interview.
Instead, let’s jump straight into the ’80s, as we did during Tuesday’s “MTV First: This Means War” live stream event, to learn a little bit about what the future Oscar-winner was like before showing up on the Hollywood scene. Because it was back then that Witherspoon was just a tween with a dream — a dream named Johnny Depp.
Regarding the first celebrity object of her affection, Witherspoon confessed during the interview, “I have to say probably Johnny Depp in ’21 Jump Street.’ I just had a really major crush on him. I used to pull pictures out of Teen Beat and put them on my wall.”
And now, a couple of decades later, she’s finally admitting it to the world, because she certainly has never told Depp. “I don’t think he knows,” she said, laughing. “I’m not sure it would faze him: I’m sure he’s heard that quite a bit.”
Depp, of course, graduated from “Jump Street” to big-screen icon, never once joining in a traditional, shoot-’em-up action flick — much like Witherspoon herself, until “This Means War.” The decision to sign on to one at this point in her career (opposite Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) stemmed from never wanting to repeat herself.
“I try not to make the same movie twice,” she explained. “I try to explore and push out in new areas, and I thought it was a nice way to get comedy and action together. I’ve never really been in a movie with a bunch of guns and action sequences. I’d turn to Tom and Chris and say, ‘The bad guys are chasing us — this is hysterical!’ It would just make me laugh. I think it’s ridiculous — me running from the bad guys. But it was really fun.”
Hopefully you tuned in to MTV on Tuesday night for “MTV First: This Means War,” during which acclaimed actress and MTV Generation Award winner Reese Witherspoon presented an exclusive clip from her upcoming film and stuck around for a lengthy chat to discuss her diverse career and various leading men, the most recent being Robert Pattinson and “War” co-stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy.
Witherspoon also talked about being a mom to daughter Ava, 12, and son Deacon, 8, and whether they have started to watch any of her movies together.
“Not really. I think it’s weird,” Witherspoon admitted. “I don’t encourage it, but if it comes on, we’ll watch it. They kind of find it entertaining. They’re kind of fascinated with a movie I did when I was 14. They really want to see ‘The Man in the Moon,’ because that’s sort of starting to be the age that they are.”
Seeing as how many celeb kids choose to follow in their parents’ footsteps, we asked Witherspoon if her children caught the acting bug or talked about wanting to act.
“It just doesn’t enter the picture. I encourage their artistic abilities at home, but they’ve never said that it’s anything they wanted to do,” Witherspoon said.
The busy actress and mom also dished about her encounter with Kate Middleton at the California launch of Tusk Trust, an organization designed to preserving Africa’s culture, back in July.
“That was very cool,” Witherspoon gushed of meeting the Duchess of Cambridge. “There’s such a history there, and I think there’s also a fascination with [Kate]. She carries herself so beautifully, keeps her composure, and under a lot of stress, I’m just kind of fascinated with how people handle different modes and lifestyles and all that. She’s very smart and sweet.”
At the 2011 MTV Movie Awards when Reese Witherspoon took the stage to accept her Generation Award, she used the moment to stand up for every young woman out there.
During her headline-making speech, she proudly told the girls watching the show that “I know it’s cool to be bad. I get it … but it’s also possible to make it in Hollywood without a reality show.” Now, many months later, Witherspoon sat down with MTV News on Tuesday (January 31) for “MTV First: This Means War.” And, during the lengthy chat, she opened up about her speech.
“Well, I have a 12-year-old daughter, and I take it all very seriously. I think there’s not a lot of positive images out there for young women, honestly,” she explained. “I don’t know, I just feel like shining the light on the good was an incredible move on MTV’s part and that you don’t have to sell yourself short and objectify yourself in order to be popular or liked or loved. And there’s many different ways to the watering hole and you can maintain you self-respect and still accomplish things.
“I don’t watch certain reality shows but there’s ones where people are doing cool, interesting things, like ‘Project Runway.’ But I’m not into women hating on other women or hitting each other or beating the crap out of each other to make money for a bunch of other people,” she continued. “I think that’s not what I want my kids to see.”
That feminist stance has made her the go-to role model for a new generation of stars, including Taylor Swift, who cites her as one of her idols. “I think it’s an accumulation of life experiences and hopefully you handle yourself with grace and dignity and life and that’s all you can hope for and hope to pass on to people,” she said of her own role-model status.
“And I think [Swift is] just an exemplary young lady,” she added. “It’s kind of interesting to see what a profound songwriter she is. I don’t even think anyone has realized, the long term is going to be the bigger revelation. It’s incredible how quickly she writes songs. We’ve hung out a couple of times; we live near each other in Nashville.”
Check out this super rare treat of Reese talking to MTV way back in 1991 – that’s 21 years ago! I can’t believe Reese has been working in Hollywood for that long, can you?
Unfortunately those outside the US can’t view the video (thanks, MTV), but hopefully there will be some other way for us to get it, and if so I will of course post here.
Reese Witherspoon is slated to sit down with MTV News on Tuesday for an exclusive interview and premiere of a previously unseen clip from her upcoming film “This Means War.” The special, “MTV First: Reese Witherspoon,” will air on Tuesday at 7:56 p.m. ET on MTV.
But before we look to the future, we are going to take a peep at her past. MTV News has uncovered a precious vintage gem, a 1991 interview with the then up-and-comer. “Ever since I was 7,” the already precocious and sassy rookie told MTV News when asked whether she had always had her sights set on a career in Hollywood. “I just thought, I always wanted to do something really outgoing ’cause when I was little I was really kind of quiet, but you know, I’d always be really creative at home and stuff, and finally I started, you know, speaking out and doing little things to impress everybody.”
She further explained that once she had decided that acting was something she wanted to do, she took the necessary steps to make sure she’d be ready for fame and stardom. “I started taking little acting classes and improv classes and, you know, [that] turned out to be what I was going to do,” she said. “I was always going to do something really out there, really far away. Does that make any sense? No, not really.”
The People’s Choice Awards were held last night, where Reese was nominated for Favourite Movie Actress. Unfortunately she did not win – the award instead went to Emma Stone – nor was she in attendance. Water For Elephants did pick up the award for Favorite Drama Movie, but lost out on Favorite Book Adaptation to Harry Potter. See the complete list of winners here.
The annual People’s Choice Award nominations were recently announced, and our Reese is nominated! She is up for Favorite Movie Actress, and Water For Elephants also scoops a couple of nominations. View the full list of 2012 nominations at PeoplesChoice.com and CAST YOUR VOTES HERE. Voting closes on December 6th, and the show airs live on Jauuary 11th 2012 on CBS (US).
Favorite Movie Actress
Anne Hathaway
Emma Stone
Jennifer Aniston
Julia Roberts
Reese Witherspoon
Favorite Drama Movie
The Adjustment Bureau
The Help
Limitless
Moneyball
Water for Elephants
Favorite Book Adaptation
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Help
I Am Number Four
Soul Surfer
Water For Elephants
The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) proudly presents “A Summer Evening with Reese Witherspoon” for its annual benefit in honor of Academy Award® winning actress Reese Witherspoon on Saturday, June 23, from 6 to 10 p.m. at The Ritz-Carlton (160 E. Pearson Street). Witherspoon will attend and engage in a discussion led by a special guest host to be announced at a later date. Tickets are on sale now, available by calling (312) 846-2072. Prices start at $400 for a single ticket and $5,000 for a table.
A highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the “Gene Siskel Film Center Renaissance Award” to Witherspoon by SAIC President Dr. Walter E. Massey.
“It is a privilege to honor Witherspoon with the Gene Siskel Film Center’s annual award,” said Jean de St. Aubin, Executive Director, Gene Siskel Film Center of the SAIC. “Her wide range of performances have won the hearts of many, including her unforgettable roles as Tracy Flick in ‘Election,’ Elle Woods in ‘Legally Blonde,’ and her Oscar®-winning portrayal of June Carter Cash in ‘Walk the Line.’ We are also excited to talk with her about this year’s release ‘Water for Elephants’ and ‘This Means War’ which will be coming out in February.’ ”
The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a reception. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m., followed by the evening’s program. The discussion with Witherspoon and a special guest will feature film clips from Witherspoon’s career. At the conclusion of the program, Massey will present Witherspoon with the “Gene Siskel Film Center Renaissance Award.”
Reese has recently been announced as the new face of European fashion chain Lindex! She will front their new ‘California Denim’ Autumn campaign and will be seen in adverts online, as well as outdoor billboards, TV and newspaper advertisements. Reese was chosen for this campaign because she is “positive, warm and full of energy” and suits the “relaxed style with Hollywood glamour” feel of the campaign.
HQ pictures from the campaign photoshoot and the set of the shoot, plus screencaps from the behind the scenes video have been added to our Gallery. Further down this post you can read information about Lindex, plus the press release that announced Reese’s involvement. There is also a behind the scenes video with cute footage from the shoot and snippets of interview with Reese.
The Teen Choice Award nominations were announced on Wednesday, and unsurprisingly, Water For Elephants received a few nominations.
Choice Movie: Drama
“Black Swan”
“Limitless”
“The Roommate”
“Soul Surfer”
“Water for Elephants”
Choice Movie Actor: Drama
Bradley Cooper, “Limitless”
Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
Cam Gigandet, “The Roommate”
Shia LaBeouf, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”
Robert Pattinson, “Water for Elephants”
Choice Movie Actress: Drama
Minka Kelly, “The Roommate”
Leighton Meester, “Country Strong”
Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
AnnaSophia Robb, “Soul Surfer”
Reese Witherspoon, “Water for Elephants”
The show will take place on Sunday August 7th, and will air live on the FOX channel in the US. With any luck Miss Witherspoon will be attending, and if she does, we’ll keep you covered on the event
- January 30th - UK Premiere (photos)
- February 8th - LA Premiere
- January 22nd - After Lately (US) (screencaps)
- February 3rd - Graham Norton Show (UK)
- February 13th - Live With Kelly
- February 13th - Letterman (US)
- February 14th - Conan
- February 15th - Chelsea Lately
- Elle (US) - February 2012 (scans)
- Marie Claire (Aus) - February 2012 (cover)
- Empire (UK) - March 2012
- Glamour (UK) - March 2012 (scans)
Elle-Isms
Elle:"Is that low-viscosity rayon? With a half-loop top stitching on the hem?
Boutique Saleswoman:"Of course. It's one of a kind.
Elle:"It's impossible to use a half-loop stitching on low-viscosity rayon. It would snag the fabric. And you didn't just get it in - I saw it in the June Vogue a year ago. So if you're trying to sell it to me for full price, you've picked the wrong girl.
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Glamour Reese Witherspoon is an unofficial fansite dedicted to supporting and promoting the career of Reese Witherspoon. We have no contact with Ms Witherspoon or her family or management. No copyright infringement is intended through the use of content within this website ...
Water For Elephants (2011) 
This Means War (2012)
Mud (2013)
Untitled Peggy Lee Biopic (201?)
