by Paul Fischer
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Reese Witherspoon |
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REESE WITHERSPOON is cute. Cranky didn't know much about her, other than she did first movie when she was 14 in something called The Man in the Moon. In Pleasantville, her slutty girl of the 90s finds that she's a lot more than a boytoy when she is forced into rigid 1950s roles. Her breaking out of those restrictions helps bring color to a, literally, black and white world. And in one of the funniest scenes in the movie, the 90s girl has to teach the 50s mom about the birds and the bees. . . |
Cranky:
So... how weird is it to talk to your mom about sex?
Reese Witherspoon: It was so funny. Joan Allen has such
innocence and naive characteristics as Betty Parker that it was almost
like talking to a child. I feel like I'm educating her. I'm her little
school teacher and I'm telling her about sex with my head craned at a
45 degree angle. I was like [faking a Bronx accent] "Listen lady,
this is what sex is about..." It was so funny. I felt like Doctor
Ruth.
Cranky:
What was your take on the script when you first read it?
Reese Witherspoon: At first I was really struck by Gary Ross's
writing. I had no idea what he'd be like as a director. There was no work
to look at. But as a writer he completely embodied the voice of 90s teenagers,
50s television icons, 50s teenagers, all these different voices. Every
character is so distinct and wonderfully mature. He found a character
arc for everyone that was so appealing. For actors there's nothing better
than working with an actor who has as great a part as you do, and you
can all contribute in different ways. When we went into the rehearsal
process, I remember being stuck on a scene and I couldn't figure out what
I was supposed to be saying. I said to Gary "I don't know what I'm
saying here" and he took Tobey and I through the scene. He said,
"This is what you're saying but this is what you really mean"
and told us the subtext of every line in the entire scene. For a writer
to be that in touch with what he's trying to say, he's just very conscious
of everything all along the way.
Cranky:
Is it better being a teen in the 50s or in the 90s
Reese Witherspoon: I don't know. Teens have it pretty good all
around. The thing that really occurred to me after watching this film
is that I'm so lucky to have grown up in the time like this when we have
the kind of social freedoms that we do. We're not expected to conform
in anyway. I think it's so wonderful that teenagers nowadays can express
themselves in so many ways, whether they be good or bad. At least they
have that freedom of expression and freedom of choice and having dreams
and having goals. That's something that's really nice.
Cranky:
Is it hard to go back to that? Is it hard to go back to looking like everyone
else?
Reese Witherspoon: The thing that was so ironic about my character
is that even though she has the sexual freedom in the 90s she doesn't
find the intellectual freedom until she goes back to the 50s. Until she
starts realizing that things she that has to say affect people and educate
people. People want to know about sex, well, she has all the answers!
y'know it's very empowering. I think though that experience she finds
her identity and sort of eventually turns to color.
Cranky:
Reading a book changes your character's life. Is there a book that's worked
for you personally?
Reese Witherspoon: I'm reading like 5 different books at once.
The book that means the most to me in life, my favorite book, is The End
of the Affair by Graham Greene which deals with religion and love and
life and war in this beautiful timeless way that I can't believe they
haven't made it into a movie. I can't believe they haven't sucked the
life out of it yet [grinning]. I read a bunch of different stuff at once
'cuz I put it down if it doesn't interest me. It breaks my heart when
a book doesn't suck me in.
Cranky:
Tobey told us his reference points were shows from the 70s. Don Knotts
as Mr. Furley and not Barney Fife. Do you think kids today will have enough
of those reference points to even get what the film is making fun of?
Reese Witherspoon: I think kids are very perceptive and there's
ways to apply this story not to 50s television shows but to television
shows in general. Because so many television shows nowadays are based
on a reality that's so affronting that to have a show that's based in
fantasy is a very appealing idea. That's what Gary shows you through his
experience, watching 50s television shows but also creating this mythical
place. He shows you that even in the 50s, television was representative
of a certain part of the 50s culture. It wasn't representative of realism,
like TV is now.
Cranky:
Was there anything good about Pleasantville? Anything good about going
back to that period that we're missing now?
Reese Witherspoon: I don't necessarily begrudge the fact that I
was born in the 70s rather than the 50s or 40s. I feel like I'm very lucky
to have the social freedom that we do nowadays. That women can be what
they want. That people of different races or color can be what they want.
I don't think anybody would trade that for any part of society. Not necessarily
all of us were living these wonderful lives in the 50s.
Cranky:
Was there a moment when you decided, "I want to act."
Reese Witherspoon: I never really decided to be an actor. I went
in to be an extra when I was 14 for a movie called The Man in the Moon
and I wound up getting a part in the movie and I got an agent and
it all just "happened" for me. Like out of nowhere. It was really
bizarre. Everybody was saying it was so Lana Turner [laughs]. Now that
I think about it, it was sort of that bizarre and otherworldly. I always
feel like this career chose me and I didn't choose it. I always feel like
there are so many other things I could do or accomplish. All I'd have
to do is go back to school and be someone else.
Cranky:
Ever feel like 'OK, I'll wake up now!'
Reese Witherspoon: [laughs] It is great. I mean there are elements
of this business that are so mesmerizing. I did this movie with Paul Newman
and y'know to stand next to Paul Newman -- I'm 22 and I've seen practically
everything he's ever done -- was such a wonderful fantasy and also to
have that person live up to every expectation that you have of him and
even further beyond that to inspire you to do the right things with celebrity
and the fame that you get there's nothing that could be realistic about
that entire situation.
Cranky:
He embodies "star."
Reese Witherspoon: Yeah. And star for all the right reasons. I
can't imagine if I had to take celebrity back from everyone and give it
back to whoever I would give it back to Paul Newman because I can't imagine
anyone doing the right things with celebrity like he does. He has this
wonderful camp for kids with cancer and his entire food line all the profits
go to charity. Can you imagine a better philanthropist than that? To use
these things that are based in surface and aren't really real for all
the right reasons. I'm sure it took him forever to figure out how to do
it, but he does it in the great way.
Cranky:
Does it make you look forward to celebrity? Celebrity nowadays is very
complicated...
Reese Witherspoon: Part of the thing that makes me think, "Gosh,
it would've been great to have been a star in the 50s" is that the
movie studios made up your personal life. You didn't have to live your
life like an open wound. I don't think anybody looks forward to celebrity
but we all see it as sort of a necessity. Maybe something that comes with
this business, whether you ask for it or not. I think a lot of people
become famous unbeknownst to them. People that have nothing to do with
the movie business become famous and they don't know why. It's all about
fame and how you define it. All the praise in the world doesn't make me
think I'm a great actress. At the end of the day when I get done with
work and I take off my makeup and my clothes I say can I live with what
I did today. And if the answer is yes, then I'm feeling pretty good and
if the answer is no then I certainly don't go home and think 'well, I'm
a celebrity!'
Cranky:
What have you learned from working with people like Paul Newman and Joan
Allen?
Reese Witherspoon: Well. I find that some of the greatest actors
are so incredibly humble and I think that's cause by the constant comparing
themselves to themselves and constantly meeting their standards rather
than other peoples standards. I learned that from Joan. I learned that
from Paul and Bill Macy and Jeff Daniels. There's always something to
be learned from people. Whether they give it or you notice it is two different
things. Joan is such a wonderfully subtle actor. She's not anything like
she is on screen which is so great. As an actor that's all you want to
be, a complete departure from yourself.
Cranky:
How about Don Knotts?
Reese Witherspoon: I think everybody was completely star struck
by Don. I think what struck me is how funny he is and how its so inherent
in him. And how he can turn anything into his role entirely. Every time
he's on screen it's like Oh! My! God! It's Don Knotts! But y'know he's
so universally loved that he can't even go to the Midwest. I mean, la
is almost as bad as it gets and people don't care who you are there and
they all love Don Knotts. He could never go to Omaha, Nebraska 'cuz people
would just mob him.
Cranky:
What would you like to have done by the year 2000?
Reese Witherspoon: [laughs]
Cranky:
Please don't say your nose...
Reese Witherspoon: I know that's what it made me think of! I don't
know. Plastic surgery? I'm a little young. I think I'd like to keep on
the same sort of trajectory that I can keep on doing the kind of work
that I'm doing and working with people Y'know hopefully what I aspire
to do. Stay on the same path and keep my feet on the ground and keep on
trucking.
More Reese Witherspoon StarTalk -- all about Election