Reese Witherspoon Lives in Fear

Appearances can be deceiving. Reese Witherspoon, one of the most apparently confident, successful and savvy women in Hollywood, tells Marie Claire that she feels fearful almost constantly.

“I see [fear] as this little creature that lives in my life all the time, and I can either pay it attention and not get anything done or I can march ahead and ignore it,” the A Wrinkle in Time star told Marie Claire for its March 2018 issue.

• “Sometimes I just have to jump two feet into a cold pool and go, ‘OK, I believe in myself enough, I know I work hard. I know I can always bet on myself,’” she added.
• Witherspoon, who has spoken out about being physically abused in a previous relationship and being sexually assaulted at age 16 by a director, also discussed the #MeToo movement that has taken Hollywood and beyond by storm.
• She said: “Sadly, I don’t find any of this shocking. Women have been sharing stories in each other’s living rooms and workplaces for as long as I’ve been a working woman. It’s just incredible that the media and the world started believing us all and listening. I was particularly moved by the women at Ford Motor Company who came forward and told their stories of harassment and abuse, and by the women in my own industry who told their stories so bravely when they had nothing to gain.”
• Witherspoon went on, saying that to effect change, women must speak out: “The female leaders within every industry have to stand up for those who are voiceless and silent, and we have to do better to create more balanced cultures with female leadership and leadership with people of color. It’s just profoundly overdue. [Women and the public] think, Well, I don’t know how I can really effect change. You can effect change by where you spend your money. We all need to be more aware of the companies we work at and the companies that we do business with, because the consumer is very powerful in this world of social media.”
• Witherspoon currently has 23 projects in the works, including one with Jennifer Aniston. That series will be one of the first-ever produced by Apple and it focuses on women in the media.
• A Wrinkle in Time opens March 9^th.