#I'veGotYouCovered

 #HarperBazaarUKJanuary2015

Reese wears Chloé dress and Chopard bracelet, photographed by Alexi Lubomirski and styled by Samantha Traina for Harper's Bazaar

Reese Witherspoon has a bunch of movies coming out, there’s The Good Lie (a feelgood drama about a woman from Kansas City who rallies to help four Sudanese refugees) and Inherent Vice (based on the book by Thomas Pynchon and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, in which Witherspoon plays an assistant district attorney). But the film generating the most attention is Wild, based on the bestselling memoir by Cheryl Strayed. It tells the story of a solo hike Strayed took at the age of 26 along the Pacific Crest Trail, trekking 94 days through wilderness between Southern California and Oregon, often in extreme weather.

Nina Ricci Spring 2015 Collection

On being stereotyped in Hollywood because of her looks: “Don’t put me in that box. Or any box, for that matter. People are complex, on-screen and off. Can’t we do justice to that?”

 

Reese Witherspoon wears Altuzarra dress, Jimmy Choo heels and Chopard ring.

 

Reese wears Ralph Lauren gown and Cartier ring

On why she started her production company: In 2012, Witherspoon joined forces with the Australian producer Bruna Papandrea (who had worked on Milk and All Good Things) to start their own production company, Pacific Standard. The decision was born of necessity, but also determination. Legally Blonde had already made Witherspoon a box-office draw. Walk the Line had won her an Oscar. But after a string of disappointing films – How Do You Know, Water for Elephants, This Means War – she was on the lookout for parts a good deal better than those being offered. In a series of meetings with studio executives, she happened to ask what they were developing with a female lead. ‘Except for one studio, they were developing nothing,’ Witherspoon says. ‘I was flabbergasted. So I said, “I’m just going to get busy.” When I see a problem, I redirect myself and put energy into fixing it.’
‘It impressed me,’ says Papandrea, ‘that she didn’t want to build a company just for herself, but to create roles for other people and opportunities for film-makers. People are very quick to put you in a box in Hollywood. Reese and I talk about this all the time. Not just actors but writers, directors, producers. People think if you’ve done one thing, that’s what you do. I really believe that if someone is talented, they are up for so many challenges.’

 

 

On why she optioned The Wild: Witherspoon had many reasons to option the book, some more personal than others. But one of its key messages chimed with her immediately. ‘This idea that we are our own saviours, our own heroes,’ she says, ‘that’s hard, but also incredibly uplifting. I think I realised, probably in my twenties, that there’s no going home, do you know what I’m saying?’ ‘In your twenties?’ I say, impressed by her maturity. She misconstrues, thinking this is old for such a realisation, and corrects herself. ‘Well, maybe when I was 18. I was like, “My parents can’t pay for me to have a life or go to college.” Whatever I was going to do in my life, I had to do it myself. Then when I had a little girl at 22, I was even more determined to, I don’t know... I went from just surviving to, “Who do I want to be for this other person?”’ That’s what happens when you have a child... ‘You kind of look inward.’

 

 

On her first meeting with Cheryl: ‘Cheryl always says you should accept the things that happen to you; synthesise them, process them however you have to and own them because they’re part of the journey you’ve been on. Don’t be ashamed of experiences you’ve had. It’s a profound idea.’ She goes on: ‘We are so hard on ourselves. It’s part of human nature to wish you could have done better. Or have a conversation in a different way. Or handle a break-up in a different way. But there is something radical, which I got when I read Cheryl’s book for the first time, which is this: what if I forgive myself? What if we could just forgive ourselves?’

Reese wears Fendi dress, Chopard earrings and Chanel Fine Jewellery ring

#HarperBazaarAustraliaJanuary2015

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley graces the front cover of the January/February edition of Harper's Bazaar looking stunning in a cornflower blue Gucci dress

 

 

This May we’ll see Roise hit the big screen again (another hot-chick role) in Mad Max: Fury road. She pouted her way through Transformers: dark of the moon back in 2011.
“I’m not focused on film at all- it’s not something I set out to do. I’ve been lucky to have both these amazing opportunities but it was never my dream or something I ‘saw’ on my journey”
 

On building her personal brand: “when you have a high volume of follower you really think about what you are posting and the message it sends” she says. “I love to take photographs, edit them, select filters, changing the contrast and saturation. I find taking a selfie ‘cringe’ but people love those and it’s a fun way to get people what a peak into my life through my eyes. The message isn’t diluted by the tabloids or built on a rumour. I get to be honest. The only time it stresses me out is when I spell something wrong”

On meeting Abbey Lee kershow: “We were both in the same boat- we didn’t have much experience as actresses or being on a movie set, so it was good having each other. I remember seeing her and thing she was the coolest girl in the world and wanting to be best friends with her” she says laughing “I don’t think the feeling was mutual, though”

 

 

It was during Rosie Hunting-Whiteley’s visit in August to launch the ModelCo Natural Skincare Collection, that she shot the Harper's Bazaar cover story. She's been an ambassador for the iconic Australian beauty brand since 2013, following in the footsteps of Elle MacPherson and Dannii Minogue.