I have a history, a long history of being stereotyped as a five-foot-two woman, which is very limiting. I've worked so hard to create characters that have dignity. And I think everybody knows that I have a very pro-woman message in my work - and in my life.
Reese WitherspoonYour body is just a vessel for who you are as a person. And until you work on what you give back to the world, it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside.
Reese WitherspoonI believe ambition is not a dirty word. It's just believing in yourself and your abilities. Imagine this: What would happen if we were all brave enough to be a little bit more ambitious? I think the world would change.
Reese WitherspoonThe more respect I had for myself, and the more I took care of myself, the more I understood what I needed out of a partner.
Reese WitherspoonI love to cook comfort food. I'll make fish and vegetables or meat and vegetables and potatoes or rice. The ritual of it is fun for me, and the creativity of it.
Reese WitherspoonI think women are natural caretakers. They take care of everybody. They take care of their husbands and their kids and their dogs, and don't spend a lot of time just getting back and taking time out.
Reese WitherspoonGod, America is a country predicated on listening to everybody. When did we stop listening to one another?
Reese WitherspoonArt is art. Television has elevated itself, in certain ways, but it's always pushed people's consciousness.
Reese WitherspoonObviously, this isn't the time in my life that I would have chosen to do this, but I feel like life gives you these challenges for a reason. I feel so happy and glad to be in the place that I am. I really feel blessed. This is something I need to face and take control of.
Reese WitherspoonMore people telling stories leads to more interesting perspectives in this world. I often think we wouldn't get to these political impasses if we had balance in storytelling.
Reese WitherspoonI don't think I realised how stressed I was, being a single parent. It was really, really stressful. It's not easy on anybody.
Reese WitherspoonOne hundred percent my mother, who would always say, "If you want something done, do it yourself." She must have said that 100 times to me - as a child, as a young woman, yesterday on the phone.
Reese WitherspoonYou hope you're saying the right things - but also, as a kid becomes a teenager, you feel like there's a ticking clock for you to tell them everything they need to know.
Reese WitherspoonI always let my husband read the script so he knows what's about to happen to his wife. When I played Cheryl Strayed in Wild, I'd get really mad about certain things, I'd say really profound things, and I'd curse out of nowhere. He'd say, "Are you you, or are you Cheryl?"
Reese WitherspoonEven people that know Johnny Cash's music really well and know that he was married don't really know that much about June Carter. So finding out about her really helped to inform my performance and to bring her to the front in a way that she has never been before.
Reese WitherspoonRealizing you're not anything special to the kids is always a great sort of reminder that you're just a regular person. A regular embarrassing old mom.
Reese WitherspoonEverything I sang sounded awful. So I went outside and I screamed. Everyone pretty much agreed it was awful.
Reese WitherspoonWe each own one car, and we have a reasonable house. It's a lovely place to be, but it's not extravagant.
Reese WitherspoonI was talking to my friend who's a psychologist, who says a woman's frontal cortex isn't fully developed till 25 and a man's till 28. I was almost 34 when we met; he was 39. So I wouldn't say either of us has wildly changed; I just love him more and more.
Reese WitherspoonThis is a movement to say we're more than just our dresses. ... It's hard being a woman in Hollywood or any industry.
Reese WitherspoonTo play June, I had an immediate connect with her background and culture. We grew up with the same religion and shared a lot of the same values of family and spirituality. But I was really so inspired by what a modern woman she was.
Reese WitherspoonAnd I want to say that my grandmother was one of the biggest inspirations in my life. She taught me how to be a real woman, to have strength and self-respect, and to never give those things away.
Reese WitherspoonI don't think these women are stupid. I think they're selling a personality that's very marketable: Wouldn't it be fun if we were all gorgeous and didn't have a care? But creating a cultural icon out of someone who goes, I'm stupid, isn't it cute? makes me want to throw daggers at them! I want to say to them, My grandma did not fight for what she fought for, and my mother did not fight for what she fought for, so you can start telling women it's fun to be stupid. Saying that to young women, little girls, my daughter? It's not OK.
Reese WitherspoonI don't believe in perfection. I don't think there is such a thing. But the energy of wanting things to be great is a perfectionist energy.
Reese WitherspoonYou're an actress! It's not about your ideas! You're there to tell other people's stories.
Reese WitherspoonI want to make my life, not just my job, the best it can be. The rest will work itself out.
Reese WitherspoonI was always, as a younger actress, very conscious of not wanting to act sexy. I didn't see myself like that. But I think as a woman, you get older, you feel more confident in your sexuality. You're not as intimidated by it, not as embarrassed by it.
Reese WitherspoonI always say that it's very important not to blame one person. You have to own whatever part of it you're responsible for. It takes a lot of soul-searching. It's important to go through that, because hopefully you won't repeat yourself.
Reese WitherspoonI think movies are great and I have a great time making them but they're not what keeps you warm at night, or what's ultimately the most important thing in anyone's life journey.
Reese WitherspoonThe joy we get as actors is out of transforming ourselves into something that's not necessarily anything true to ourselves. And it's a power - not being yourself, and being in the role; it's just like another prop.
Reese WitherspoonGod bless that women are free in America. We can say what we want, and I do think women will heal the world.
Reese WitherspoonMovies will finally reflect the world we live in, not some weird dinosaur reality.
Reese WitherspoonMy husband is my biggest supporter on earth. He encourages me to put myself out in the world in ways that feel scary, and he's like, "I'm always gonna catch you. I'm always gonna be there for you." My supportive mother and family. Honey, it's such a village.
Reese WitherspoonWhen people get in your face and say, 'This will pass,' you think, Are they crazy? I'm never gonna feel any better than I feel right this minute and nothing's ever gonna make sense again... You see a lot of people play this blame game. Blame, blame, blame. You know? And it's a really easy thing to do, and I'm certainly guilty of it. [You have to] look at yourself and go, 'What part of this do I need to own? Which part of this is my responsibility?' And that's the painful work that you have to go through to hopefully get some real life knowledge out of it.
Reese WitherspoonThe truth is... I gave my heart away a long time ago, my whole heart... and I never really got it back.
Reese WitherspoonWell I always wanted to be Dolly Parton when I was a little girl. I was obsessed with her.
Reese WitherspoonIt definitely sometimes feels like a suit that I wish I could zip off. But I don’t feel bad about any of the things I’ve gone through, whether it’s divorce or breakups or anything like that, because that’s all part of the life journey, and I have those experiences just like anyone else. And I think it deepens what you tap into creatively.
Reese WitherspoonThat said, my kids are at home right now with my husband and I'm missing something important at my daughter's school which makes me feel sick inside. It's a lot of balance and a lot of really hard decision making.
Reese Witherspoon