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PASADENA – Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington have a friendship all their own.
Though the actresses have traveled significantly different paths in their journeys to finding success in Hollywood, their resulting careers and how they’ve managed to see their way to the top of the landscape couldn’t be more in line with the overall message they wish to send to everyone with their joint Hulu series, “Little Fires Everywhere.”
Witherspoon and Washington, both 43, serve as executive producers and star in the series based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestselling novel of the same name that follows the intertwined lives of one picture-perfect family with an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.
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The acting pair spoke about teaming up to deliver “Little Fires” alongside showrunner and creator Liz Tigelaar and said that bringing the series to fruition only opened the door for more female-driven projects that otherwise wouldn’t have been given such opportunity even a decade ago.
“Choices used to be made for me a lot,” Witherspoon told reporters last month at the Television Critics Association winter press tour at the Langham Huntington in Pasadena, Calif. “I made a conscious decision about eight years ago to start my own company because I wasn't happy with the choices that were being made for me, and I didn't see a place to exist within the industry that we had.
“There just wasn't a spectrum of storytelling for women that I felt like was representative of the world that we walk through and that our daughters are seeing on film and television. And I think the emergence of streaming – the confluence of deciding to start a company, I guess I was psychic or something.”
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Washington said she felt much of the shift of women deciding to work among themselves on projects was spearheaded by the Time’s Up movement that has swept over Hollywood in the last three years, adding that more openings presented themselves after women in the industry were able to converge in safety in order to map out opportunities for themselves.
“One of the extraordinary impacts of the Time’s Up movement is that so many of us came together to try to advance the cause of equity and safety in the workplace. But in doing so, we came together and we were no longer siloed,” said Washington.
Reese Witherspoon, left, and Kerry Washington speak onstage during the Hulu Panel at Winter TCA 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 17, 2020 in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Erik Voake/Getty Images for Hulu)
“For so much of my career, I had been told that so-and-so actress was crazy, so-and-so actress was difficult, this other actress is bad news. And when we were all gathered in a room together – not for the purpose of building each other’s career, for the purpose of creating safety and equity across all industries, all over the world – but we got to know each other.”
The “Scandal” alum continued: “And in that sisterhood, we got to ask each other, 'How can we partner together to also create more environments that are filled with equity and safety in our own industry as well?' So, for me, that’s been one of the exciting kind of results, side results, of coming together as a community, is that we’ve been able to grow our friendships and also grow our professional relationships. Not just for our own advancement, but as producers, we get to employ hundreds and hundreds of artists and activists, and now we can do it in environments that are safe and have values that embody our values.”
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During the panel, Witherspoon explained that she could never fathom a day in her career where she would be able to helm her own projects or own her own production company, but with Hulu opening the door for Witherspoon and Washington to be in positions of leadership, “whether it's Nicole Kidman or it's Jennifer Aniston – we all remark about how much things have changed and that we are put in a position of respect for our ideas. And that is a new world for us.”
Despite their schedules as star producers, Washington and Witherspoon also keep busy agendas strictly as performers – which they both said is a welcomed break from the chaos behind the scenes.
“Well, I mean recently, I was in an Ava DuVernay production for Disney, and that was wonderful because I didn’t have to do any of the producing,” the "Big Little Lies" star quipped, drawing laughter from journalists.
“I know. It’s true,” chimed Washington. “Right now, I’m doing ‘The Prom’ with Ryan Murphy and I’m not producing that, but I’m loving being a part of it. And I get to – when they say cut and that’s a wrap, I get to go home!”
Washington maintained: “I don’t have to like, stay and rehearse and location scout and work on the budget – and talk about casting. So it’s fun to do other people’s projects as well. But I don’t think either of us is wanting to give up our voice as producers anytime soon.”
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“Certainly,” said Witherspoon before Washington added, “I hope she doesn’t, for sure.”
“I can’t do that,” Witherspoon joked, eliciting another round of laughs from the room.
“Little Fires Everywhere” premieres Wednesday, March 18 on Hulu.
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