Highlights
- Reese Witherspoon explains why she won’t take on darker roles in Hollywood after her divorce, stating that she prefers to make optimistic films that inspire women.
- She values what her fans expect from her and is unbothered about not being part of the “cool kids club” in Hollywood.
- Witherspoon opens up about her emotional journey after her divorce, describing herself as a “broken” robot and emphasizing the importance of being vulnerable and finding personal balance.
Reese Witherspoon has always played light or heroic roles. There’s the feminist Elle Wood in Legally Blonde, the brave broadcaster Bradley Jackson in The Morning Show, and a bunch of other rom-com parts.
Recently, the Hello Sunshine founder explained why she won’t take darker characters after three decades in Hollywood. The Cruel Intentions star, who’s been named one of America’s Richest Self-Made Women by Forbes, recently confessed to feeling like a “robot” that “broke” after her shocking divorce from Jim Toth.
The two were married for 12 years. They have an 11-year-old son, Tennessee James Toth. The couple also raised Witherspoon’s children from her previous marriage to Ryan Phillippe — Ava Elizabeth Phillippe, 24, and Deacon Reese Phillippe, 20. Could the split be the reason she won’t play darker roles?
Why Won’t Reese Witherspoon Play Darker Roles?
Witherspoon simply has no desire to play dark roles. “I’m not meant to be doing dark, heavy, intense, horror, gore, darkness movies,” she said (via The Hollywood Reporter) at the Hello Sunshine’s Shine Away event alongside her close friend Jennifer Garner, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Mindy Kaling who’s writing the script for Legally Blonde 3.
The Sweet Home Alabama star noted that she’s aware of what fans expect from her. “People like to see me do light movies, and I was like, OK. It doesn’t put you in the cool kids club a lot but I don’t care, I don’t want to be in the cool kids club.” She also prefers “to make optimistic stuff that makes girls excited to be women in this world, because it is a wonderful thing to be a woman in this world.”
True enough, she’s become a strong female role model, on and offscreen. Aside from her box-office successes, the Big Little Lies alum has established herself as a producer and entrepreneur. For the record, Witherspoon was already getting in trouble for her business skills as a kid at school. Now, she’s worth $440 million and is 2023’s highest-earning actress in Hollywood.
Why Did Reese Witherspoon And Jim Toth Divorce?
In March 2023, Witherspoon and Toth announced their divorce via Instagram, saying: “We have some personal news to share… It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce. We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.”
And like most Hollywood divorced couples, they said, “our biggest priority is our son and our entire family as we navigate this next chapter. They then asked for “everyone’s respect for our family’s privacy at this time” as “these matters are never easy and are extremely personal.”
Weeks later, it was discovered that the actress, who refuses to watch her own movies, cited “irreconcilable differences” in her divorce filing. A source later said (via StyleCaster) that she and Toth are “the best of friends and this is such an amicable decision. They are so committed to co-parenting together. They are invested in their whole family and making this as smooth as possible for everyone.”
Another insider said that they plan on maintaining a healthy co-parenting relationship. “They love Tennessee, and this is their focus. The move from Los Angeles to Nashville was a big deal for him,” they said of the couple’s son. “They don’t want the divorce to affect him negatively. They will continue to co-parent amicably. There is no drama.”
How Is Reese Witherspoon Doing After Her Divorce?
The “amicable” divorce wasn’t easy for Witherspoon who recently described herself as a “robot” that “broke.” Nowadays, she’s been keeping herself busy with work after such a tearful breaking point. “I’ve been trying really hard to find balance outside of work,” she shared to the Shine Away audience.
“I’m a person who fills my schedule with busyness, so that I feel less alone or less nervous or less unsettled,” she added. “I started to realize that isn’t going to work for me. About a year ago, I was like, ‘I was a robot and the robot broke.’ I cried and cried.”
She then said that being transparent about her emotions with fans is “important,” and that a poem that made her “burst into tears” helped her realize that. “It actually makes me feel very vulnerable sharing that with you all,” she told the crowd. “But I think it’s important. We hold up so much for so many.”
She continued: “My beautiful friend, Cleo Wade, just wrote this gorgeous poem … about the glue in people’s lives. And sometimes you are the glue in everybody’s life, whether it’s at work or being a mom or being a partner, but who is holding you together, you know? It’s really important to remember.”
Source: NewsFinale
