Clint Eastwood could cut a man down at 10 paces. Reese Witherspoon, 43, it appears, can spot a bestseller at 10 pages. The American actress, known for her roles in Legally Blonde and Walk the Line, has slowly been bolstering her CV, carving out a second act as one of Hollywood's most astute producers. Her speciality? Turning chart-topping novels into box-office gold.
Gone Girl, Wild and Big Little Lies – by Gillian Flynn, Cheryl Strayed and Liane Moriarty respectively – were all helped on to the big and little screens by Witherspoon in recent years. And the actress appears to only be in the first chapter of her career reincarnation, with plenty more adaptations up her sleeve.
Her predilection for garnering inspiration from the written word has been well documented, starting long before the actress stepped foot in front of a camera.
An early interest in books
Born Laura Jeanne Reese in New Orleans, Louisiana, the proudly Southern star was a "dork who read loads of books" throughout her school years, she told the Sunday Times in 2006. The daughter of two doctors, Witherspoon spent most of her childhood in Nashville, Tennessee, and landed her big-screen break in 1991's The Man in the Moon. The then-14-year-old attended an opening casting call for extras for Robert Mulligan's coming-of-age film, impressing the director so much, she was offered the lead.
However, acting wasn't always Witherspoon's only career option; she began a degree as an English literature major at the prestigious Stanford University, before dropping out to pursue roles in crime flick, Freeway (1996) and psychological thriller, Fear (1996).
Subsequent leading parts in Pleasantville, Cruel Intentions and Election helped establish Witherspoon as a darling of the silver screen, with the actress soon commanding multimillion pay checks per film. But frustrated at the limited range of roles she was offered as a woman, the actress decided to take matters into her own hands. "First I got mad, really mad. And then I was like: 'It's nobody's fault; if you're not proactive about things,'" she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014.
Turning to entrepreneurship
Channelling her exasperation into entrepreneurship, the actress founded production company Type A Films in 2000. She merged with Australian producer Bruna Papandrea (whose credits include 2008's Milk and 2010's All Good Things) to create Pacific Standard in 2012.
It was under this banner that Witherspoon first flexed her talent for literary taste-making, seeking out complexed, nuanced female roles from the pages on her bookshelves. Quickly snapping up the rights to Gillian Flynn's third novel, Gone Girl in 2012, Witherspoon and Papandrea scored producing credits on the thriller. The tale focused on bar owner, Nick Dunne, who becomes the prime suspect after his wife, Amy, disappears under mysterious circumstances. Spending weeks on The New York Times's bestseller list, the book's success translated to film, with the adaptation – released in 2014 – topping the North American box office in its opening weekend.
Witherspoon was once touted to play Amy, though eventually the part went to Rosamund Pike, who starred alongside Ben Affleck in the David Fincher-directed film. “Mostly, I was thrilled that one of our first movies was going to be directed by one of the great American filmmakers of our time,” she told Deadline.com on the casting decision. “My job as producer was to support him and learn all I could.”
Success with novels
That year, Witherspoon instead fronted Wild, a biopic based on Strayed's 2012 memoir of the same name – and scored a best actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Produced by Pacific Standard and with a screenplay penned by About a Boy author Nick Hornby, the actress starred in and co-produced the adventure film, which followed a recent divorcee on a gruelling, soul-searching solo hike of the US Pacific Crest Trail.
In 2014, the actress also partnered with Nicole Kidman to option Moriarty's Big Little Lies, turning the murder- mystery-meets-rom-com into a seven-part drama, which screened on HBO in 2017. Starring both actresses, along with Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz in leading roles, the series screened to critical acclaim, scooping multiple Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. A second season, set to premiere this June, was swiftly announced, with Oscar-winner Meryl Streep joining the cast, and Kidman and Witherspoon resuming their roles as producers.
Developing a storytelling brand
However, it’s not just on screen that Witherspoon’s talent for making or breaking a read rules supreme. The mother of three has also expanded her entrepreneurial ambitions in recent years to develop a storytelling brand, Hello Sunshine, which was forged with Otter Media after Witherspoon parted ways with Papandrea in 2016. The multi-armed media company boasts a podcast intent on showcasing women’s voices, with appearances from stars such as comedienne Hannah Gadsby, actress-writer Lena Waithe and actress-activist Jameela Jamil.
Merchandise, a monthly 500-word essay submission competition, newsletters and a talk show fronted by Witherspoon make up some of Hello Sunshine's offerings, though the brand's female-centric book club is one of its most successful projects. Curated by Witherspoon herself, the monthly instalment has seen books such as Kate Quinn's The Alice Network, Maria Hummel's Still Lives and Ruth Ware's The Lying Game all getting the star's literary seal of approval. And Witherspoon has shown a keen knack for turning her book-club picks into flicks, optioning titles that have garnered her Reese's Book Club yellow sticker, such as Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Delia Owens's Where the Crawdads Sing and Catherine Steadman's Something in the Water.
It is Witherspoon's eye for promising, emerging authors that in fact spawned the launch of Hello Sunshine, after the actress was egged on by her husband, talent agent Jim Toth. "I talked to my husband around the time when the movies weren't working for me," she told The New York Times last year. "He said: 'You don't seem like the kind of person who sits around and waits for the phone to ring. You read more books than anybody I know, so why don't you start making them into your own material?'"
Upcoming projects
Subsequently, a generous handful of titles from recent years' bestsellers lists are set to receive the Reese Witherspoon treatment, from Jessica Knoll's Luckiest Girl Alive (2015) to Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere (2017), the latter of which is being turned into a Hulu mini-series starring Kerry Washington. Heath Lee's A League of Wives, an adaptation of Karin Tanabe's The Gilded Years and Kathleen Barber's Are You Sleeping have all be optioned by Witherspoon – who also penned her own lifestyle book in 2018, Whiskey in a Teacup.
Now, getting a spot on Witherspoon's coveted book club is seen as a badge of honour among novelists. "I went hot, cold, and then burst into tears!" The Other Woman writer Sandie Jones told Entertainment Weekly in 2018 of the moment she discovered she'd made the cut.
The concept is reminiscent of media mogul Oprah Winfrey, whose eponymous book club has helped raise the profile of then-burgeoning authors such as Chris Bohjalian and Rhonda Byrne; however, Witherspoon is moving the plot along by crafting a movie empire, a visual rendering of diverse, inclusive female voices that feels necessarily relevant in a post #MeToo era.
Indeed, Witherspoon has “an extraordinary knack for being a step ahead of the zeitgeist”, according to Apple’s TV executives Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, as they announced last year they had purchased the rights to an as- yet-untitled series starring the actress and Jennifer Aniston.
The Oscar winner's impact on pop culture is set to be further cemented, with the release of season two of Big Little Lies and Are You Sleeping this year. As a novelist's champion, Hollywood heavyweight and shrewd producer, Witherspoon's trifecta means she's flipping the script on the formerly male-dominated movie business.
But at the heart of it, her love of page-turners is fuelling her professional renaissance. "I get crazy in a bookstore. It makes my heart beat hard because I want to buy everything," she told Reader's Digest in 2005. And 15 years on, she's certainly acquired quite the shopping list of adapted screenplays.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
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25%20Days%20to%20Aden
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Results
Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
Company%20profile
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RIDE%20ON
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Norway v Spain, Saturday, 10.45pm, UAE
More from our neighbourhood series:
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE
1. Liverpool 101 points
2. Manchester City 80
3. Leicester 67
4. Chelsea 63
5. Manchester United 61
6. Tottenham 58
7. Wolves 56
8. Arsenal 56
9. Sheffield United 55
10. Everton 50
11. Burnley 49
12. Crystal Palace 49
13. Newcastle 46
14. Southampton 44
15. West Ham 39
16. Brighton 37
17. Watford 36
18. Bournemouth 36
19. Aston Villa 32
20. Norwich City 29
Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Napoleon
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
SPECS
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Itcan profile
Founders: Mansour Althani and Abdullah Althani
Based: Business Bay, with offices in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India
Sector: Technology, digital marketing and e-commerce
Size: 70 employees
Revenue: On track to make Dh100 million in revenue this year since its 2015 launch
Funding: Self-funded to date