“Heavenly”

Reese Witherspoon

by Lynn B.

Reese Witherspoon in JUST LIKE HEAVEN For every generation there are a few actors/actresses who represent “real” people. Reese Witherspoon is one of those: beautiful, accessible, both funny and dramatic; an all-American girl. Right now, I’m sure the young actress is mourning the awful transformation of the place she was born, New Orleans. But, when we spoke with her last month, she was her usual upbeat, perky, intelligent self, anxious to chat about her new romantic film Just Like Heaven which asks some important questions about destiny.

In black sweater over a silk print dress, her longish hair held back from her forehead with a bobby pin, Reese could have been one of us, except for those fancy dangle diamond earrings. The actress told us all about her role as a young woman caught between worlds, her own belief in an afterlife, soul mates (is Ryan hers?), her family, fave TV shows, working in costume dramas, working with Mark Ruffalo as her leading man, playing June Carter Cash in the upcoming Walk the Line film and what, to her, is “just like heaven”.

AGW: What things in life are, for you, just like heaven?

Reese: That's a great question. My kids. My kids are so great, particularly in the morning. There's just nothing better than the amazing things that they say that blow your mind. Both of my children are beautiful and healthy and amazing and happy, and there's just nothing better than spending the day with them. I could just sit around and watch them for hours.

AGW: Do you believe in an afterlife?

Reese: I do believe that there is a certain part of your spirit or yourself that carries on. I had grandparents I was really, really close to. When I was having my children I was in the hospital. I felt like my grandparents were with me. I saw them in the room and that's sort of a comforting thing not a spooky thing. I mean it's interesting theory too 'cause we're all energy and where does it all go? It has to go somewhere.

AGW: How was working with Mark as your leading man?

Reese: Any time that you're doing a film that requires a comedy you have to really have somebody that understands character and I was really inspired to work with him because it makes things so much funnier when you're not trying to be funny but you're finding the heart of the character and you're getting into sort of the emotions of the character and I know he's a very versatile actor. I was just really thrilled at how funny he was I didn't expect to come to the set and be laughing every day. It was kind of silly. He's funny. He reminds me a lot of myself. I think we made a nice match.

AGW: Your character is so busy with work, she misses out on her personal life. How do you find time to make sure you don't miss out on what's important?

Reese: I have a busy life too and there are times when I feel I'm on a hamster wheel and I can't get off, or a speeding train and I have no idea where I'm going. So it's nice sometimes to just take a break and step back. The most important thing in my life is my children and my marriage. So, once I take care of those things in my life, then everything sort of radiates out of that. Everything becomes more easy to deal with. As long as they're safe and happy and healthy and feeling good, then I feel like I'm free to sort of accomplish what I want to. It really requires just taking some time off and hunkering down and sitting on the floor and hanging out with the kids.

AGW: Do your kids come with you to the set?

Reese: Oh yeah. My daughter comes to get her hair and makeup done. And tries on all the clothes in the wardrobe trailer, which weren't very many on this movie. She was very disappointed that it wasn't Legally Blonde Three, 'cause she likes to tie all the scarves around her neck and put on the jewelry. And everybody on the film had children. Mark Ruffalo's wife was pregnant so that's a little Just like Heaven baby. She's sweet. She's so cute. She looks just like Mark.

AGW: Do you believe in soul mates?

Reese: Without sounding too drippy, I guess I do. I mean I'm very lucky that I met somebody in my life so young who is just my greatest friend and beyond every kind of bump in the road on the journey of life, we just like each other. We make each other laugh and we think each other are funny so we like the same [cruddy] television shows, me more than him. Yeah. I do believe that there's people out there like the person for you. I mean it's been my experience for that.

AGW: Okay, what are the “[cruddy]” TV shows you watch?

Reese: [laughing] I think it’s “What Not to Wear”. And on the good television show side, I like the "Lost" show. I'm riveted. It's like I can't tear my eyes off of the show. And Ryan's like, "Yeah I know. I know it's a great show honey. I know." Sometimes he even pretends to watch 30 minutes of it with me. And he pretends he cares about the plot twists. "I can't believe that just happened." "No honey, I can't believe it. That's real astounding. I'm going to take a shower."

AGW: Who are your female role models and why?

Reese: Susan Sarandon, and Meryl Streep and Jodie Foster. All those women have done amazing things. You know, the choices Faye Dunaway made in her career, I think she's done some amazing roles. Yeah, I find a lot of inspiration a lot of places, particularly my mother, who was a woman raising two kids and working three full time jobs and driving blind people in her spare time. What spare time? She worked every Saturday and every Sunday, and Monday through Friday. And my grandmother was an amazing lady. She was very well read and had an amazing passion for books that she passed on to me.

AGW: You play a doctor. Did you have to research?

Reese: Well I'm playing a doctor because my parents are both in the medical profession, and I'd get dressed in my scrubs and take lots of Polaroids and send them to my parents and say ‘are you happy now’? This is what it would've been like! And then I ran around the set telling everyone what they were doing wrong. I was junior physician around there, diagnosing people. I really do think I diagnose people sometimes and they say that's really not appropriate.

AGW: What was it like shooting in San Francisco for Just Like Heaven?

Reese: San Francisco was great, I had gone to Stanford, so I would drive up from Palo Alto on the weekends, and stuff, and I didn't have any money [laughs], so I would go thrift store shopping, it was completely different this time. We got to stay in nice hotels, and see like a completely different side of it. The great restaurants, it's such a great city. I think the movie has really beautiful parts of it too. We went all over the city, so you see lots of different parts of it. Mark lived there for a long time, so he had a particular fondness for the city. I think you see it in the film.

AGW: Do you have a film that you watch again and again?

Reese: Well, I love anything that Goldie Hawn's in, I love Overboard. it's like my favorite movie of all time. Whenever I'm sick and not feeling well, Ryan brings it in. And I'm sitting in bed, and he's like, you want to watch Overboard?' I just love Goldie Hawn in that movie, she's perfect. Let's see, what other movies do I watch? [As we discussed], I watch a lot of television. I love 'American Idol,' I watch it with my daughter, it's one of the only shows you can watch with your kids, at that hour of the night. We watch a lot of nature shows and stuff. I like 'Spongebob Squarepants’.

AGW: Do you want to do a big action movie some day?

Reese: Yeah, I do. I do. I have a hard time seeing myself in those scenarios, holding guns and things. I don't think really see a five-foot-two woman holding a gun and saying, 'you stop,' and the (perpetrator) listening. I don't know. But I would definitely like to do an action movie. I definitely would like to do a thriller. I'm working on a thriller right now. I'm very excited about it. It has sort of different political parts of it. It's in another country, and I like that sort of suspense-type movie.

AGW: Would you encourage your kids to go into film careers?

Reese: I'd definitely encourage my kids to do whatever they felt passionate about. We definitely feel, whatever they wanted to do, I'd prefer they do it when they're 18, because I think that's the appropriate time for children to start working. If they're happy to work at McDonald's when they're 15, that's fine with me. But yeah, I think, to be in this business, I think it's important to have a little bit of maturity and go through school, definitely.

AGW: Your character in the film gets upset at Mark for leaving a water stain on her nice coffee table. Anything similar at your house?

Reese: Mm hm. Okay, the sweat rings on the coffee table thing is very valid. Because I have a nice table or two in my house, and you know, it's just something about a coaster that people just can't grasp. I really feel that legitimately! I'll put my sweater under it, I just don't want the sweat ring! And inevitably every time I come back in town after I've been out of town or something, and Ryan stayed at home, there's a ring on the table. I'm trying to learn to let it go. [laughs]

AGW: How is running your own production company?

Reese: It's actually great. I've had the production company just now long enough, it's been three years, that we finally understood what doesn't work, and what is starting to work. I go to a lot of meetings, I meet with a lot of writers, I read a lot of scripts and a lot of books. So, yeah, it's exciting for me. It's a great opportunity, and our next film that we're producing is with another actress who I really admire and respect, Christina Ricci, and I feel really excited to be just part of something where I'm producing another film about another young woman.

AGW: Can you talk a little about your role as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line?

Reese: June Carter was an interesting opportunity, I didn't really foresee. When Jim Mangold was writing the script about Johnny Cash and he called me and he said’ would you like to play June Carter’?, I said, ‘with all due respect, honey, isn't she like 70 or something? [laughs], I don't really think I'm ready’! And he said ‘no, no, no, I'm gonna do a film about their life when they were young and on tour together’. I'd grown up in Nashville, so I knew exactly who the Carter family was. I didn't have any sort of recollection of them at that time period, but I did a lot of research, and five months of singing lessons, and autoharp lessons, and recording studios and meeting with musicians, and recording albums, and it was definitely a very long journey. It was like the longest rehearsal period I've ever had on a film, but it was definitely worth it. I think the film's really beautiful and very moving.

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