Reese Witherspoon: Penelope's BFF

In the modern fairy tale romance Penelope, Reese Witherspoon not only serves as producer but portrays an edgy, eccentric biker chick who befriends the runaway Penelope (played by Christina Ricci). Without her character's aid, poor Penelope might never have survived in the outside world.

Reese's production company Type A Productions found the script and nurtured it through filming so the actress has a big stake in making the movie the best it can be. Reese has always believed in girl power and wanted to champion a movie about an independent and "different" young woman who learns to love herself despite what society thinks of her. We wanted to know the history of the project and what's coming up for Reese.

Picture the blonde actress in a cute multi-colored print dress by Etro, silver open-toed heels and hoop earrings. In a hotel in Westwood, Ca. across from the UCLA campus, we dished everything from Reese's producing duties to her being too height-challenged to ride a Vespa scooter.

TeenHollywood: Reese, was this the first film your company has done? Or is it the first indie film?

Reese: This is the first independent film. We produced Legally Blonde 2 and then this was the first film that we found the script, found the director, and did all the heavy lifting.

TeenHollywood: What was it about the project that just grabbed you?

Reese: My producing partner Jennifer Simpson brought me the script about four years ago. It was a script that other people had read and there were a lot of ideas about how to make it. People tossed around making it an animated movie. People couldn't figure out what to do with it. When she brought it to me I just thought it was great. It was perfect for our company because at the center it was a wonderful, fantastic, cinematic movie. At the center it also had a really great female character who was strong, ambitious, but definitely had a journey to go through to get to the place where she would find herself.

TeenHollywood: Did you consider playing Penelope yourself?

Reese: Yeah, I actually did. I thought about it but I got busy with other commitments and the movie had to go forward. We decided to cast it but I always knew I wanted to be in it in some capacity. It was kind of fun for me to get to play a smaller character and get to be a 'broad'.

TeenHollywood: What did you do to develop the Annie character and make her your own?

Reese: I found somebody I thought was kind of like her and I just kind of mimicked her. It was fun, yeah. I got to run around the streets of London on a Vespa. I got to wear the funny hair, just be ballsy, and funny.

TeenHollywood: Annie, when she first meets Penelope, I thought maybe she was supernatural. I thought she was a guardian angel. Is there an element of that or is she just a friend?

Reese: Yeah, I think there are elements of that, it's definitely a magical movie. There are definitely twists and turns that you don't expect. There was something to the fact that we put wings on her, wings on her bike, and stuff. We thought of all these little details that we liked. It's nice that you noticed them [she beams].

TeenHollywood: I think we heard that there were some mishaps on the Vespa when you were filming on it?

Reese: [laughs] Yeah, it's because I'm height-challenged. My feet wouldn't touch the ground on the Vespa. They tried to lower it as low as they possibly could and my feet still couldn't touch the ground! We had to put it on a rig. Christina [Ricci] is pretty short too and she had to sit on the back. Somebody went off, so we had to rig it up, and do it good old movie style. I think that was it.

TeenHollywood: So was being a supporting character and not the star less weight on your shoulders?

Reese: I carried the weight in other ways. Like, how are we going to get distribution and that kind of thing? It's fun, it's sort of very freeing to play a supporting character. Those are the kind of parts I came up [in the business] playing, so it was kind of nice to return to that. I love those kinds of characters like Barbara Stanwyck played. You don't know if she's going to kiss you or stab you in the neck. I love those kinds of characters.

TeenHollywood: The locale and era of the film isn't that pinned down. Was that intentional?

Reese: I think because it was such a magical fairy tale we wanted it to be timeless. I think our costumes are very timeless. We wanted it to seem like a creative imaginary world to add to the fantasy element.

TeenHollywood: The point is to accept yourself as you are but, at the end, Penelope loses the piggie nose. How did you justify that?

Reese: We were very particular with the editing in the script about her not having a miraculous change. Her acceptance comes before her physical change comes, so really she has to accept herself first; who she is and what is great about herself, before her body physically changes. She looks so darn cute with the nose, for a second we were like 'Maybe we shouldn't get rid of the nose. Maybe everybody else should change.' There was a lot of deliberation about that moment.

TeenHollywood: What do you hope that teen girls especially who are having a really tough time with image, take away from this movie?

Reese: I guess that there are all sorts of definitions of beauty. Beyond what is the physical aspect of beauty it's about finding what makes you unique is what can be really defining in your life. It's important to really know yourself.

TeenHollywood: Are you glad that your own young kids could go see Penelope?

Reese: It's always important. Sometimes I get frustrated that there are not a lot of really great female characters out there that young women can look at and go 'I want to be like that. It's awesome.' I go to movies and I get frustrated. I'm just like 'Shoot him! Just shoot him!' Why does the guy get to shoot him? Why can't the girl shoot him? I miss those characters in film. I feel like it would be nice to see more of them. I'm happy to be part of something where a great female character, which Christina plays, could be inspiring to people.

TeenHollywood: 'Shoot him', huh? Would you like to play a really kick butt female character yourself?

Reese: Yes, possibly I would like to do that, and I would like to see other women do it. I love to see Angelina Jolie in movies like Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I can't wait to see her in Wanted. I think those movies where women have great strength, and character, it's always interesting.

TeenHollywood: Can you talk about casting Christina?

Reese: She was my first choice. We were lucky when we sent her the script. She and I sat down for lunch and I thought 'She is not going to want to do this.' Here is this weird pig face. But she just came in and was like 'No, I'm excited! I want to do this. I want to wear this pig face, I think it's great, and it's awesome.' I was like 'Are you sure?' and she just was fearless. That is what I have always loved about Christina, she has a real intelligence to her work, also very sharp, very witty, and she's always just been great.

TeenHollywood: What do you have in common with her as an actress and how do you differ?

Reese: We grew up auditioning together. We had known each other for years from sitting in the waiting room, waiting to get cast, or not cast in movies. We made a friendship. It was great to finally have that collaboration we had talked about for so many years. [We have in common] losing a lot of parts to other actresses, being really grumpy, and miserable about it. No, I think we have a similar sensibility. You do want to wrap your arms around her and love her, that's why I'm so excited about this film. I do think it's an opportunity for audiences to really embrace her. She's great and she's got great taste too.

TeenHollywood: What about getting hot James McAvoy as your leading man?

Reese: James, we were just lucky to get James. The casting director suggested him and at the time I didn't know who he was. Christina had seen some of his work and she was a big champion of his. So was Jennifer Simpson, my producing partner. I watched some of his stuff and thought he was great. Of course he has become this big movie star now. I tease him and say 'I got you when you were cheap.' That's not going to happen again, I'll never get him again. He's so great and I'm so happy for him to be having all this success. He's really versatile. You can believe him as a doctor, but also as a super spy. He's just wonderful.

TeenHollywood: When Penelope becomes a celebrity, everyone wants to take her picture. Do you see any comparison between that and what you have had to go through with the paparazzi?

Reese: There is a little representation of the paparazzi [in the film]. There was definitely that aspect in it, it's interesting. There are all sorts of different things that make you famous nowadays. You just don't want your kids exposed to so much of that. It's becoming bizarre too, it's a little aggressive and strange.

TeenHollywood: Has winning the Oscar for Walk the Line changed the way you choose roles or has it really affected your life?

Reese: I think you just have to go forward like you always have. I've never let anything stop me. I still feel like I can barely afford an apartment sometimes. I call my accountant and I go 'Can I afford to buy that car?' and he's like 'Yeah, you can.' 'Okay.' I think, in the sense of choosing material, I feel like I'm always choosing things based on where I'm at in life. The process of what I've gone through recently is always a part of decision making. It's interesting how things come your way that are right for you. You gravitate towards things that you are trying to work out in your own life.

TeenHollywood: What is the best career advice you have ever received and who gave it to you?

Reese: The best career advice was 'never miss an opportunity to just be quiet'. That is always a good piece of advice, just in life. It was actually put 'Never miss an opportunity to just shut up.' That was from my granddad. Also, the interesting thing about our business is its so ever evolving. Always be nice to everybody, particularly the people that answer the phones, because they are going to be your boss in four years. It's true, it happens all the time.

TeenHollywood: Where do things stand with the Children's Defense Fund project in New Orleans that you are involved in?

Reese: I'm actually going back next month. I'm part of a very exciting project, but I can't talk about it, but it's going to be very exciting for the Children's Defense Fund. I'm looking forward to do doing some work for them in the months to come, raising money.

TeenHollywood: Your company's name, Type A, implies a lot of ambition on your part. You seem to have achieved so much. What are the things that you still want to check off your 'to do' list?

Reese: Kick [butt] female role, definitely shooting somebody in the neck, in a movie..or in the knee or something, just the knee, nothing permanent. [we laugh]. I have a lot of ambitions. I really am interested in doing a period film. There are a lot of filmmakers I would love to work with like Ridley Scott. There are other actors I think are really interesting. I really like Marion Cotilliard. I thought that movie La Vie en Rose was so good. I am endlessly inspired, but now I'm interested more in design and production design. I'm getting more involved in that sort of thing.

TeenHollywood: Directing?

Reese: Possibly, I think I'm inching towards it, I have to say. [Laughs] Be afraid, be very afraid! I'm not doing that exactly next. It's very inspiring to see people like Sarah Polley who I was auditioning with and seeing her adapt the Alice Munro short story, and direct Julie Christie [in Away From Her]. That's really inspiring.

TeenHollywood: You are in an upcoming movie with Vince Vaughn. What kind of character do you play in Four Christmases?

Reese: I play Kate Kincaid who is in a relationship with a man and we mutually agree we don't want to see our families. Every Christmas we travel and have a very particular theology about relationships, and life, that we are never going to get married, never have children, but we like our life. Through a course of events we have to go home. Both of our parents are divorced so we have to go to four Christmases in one day.

TeenHollywood: Wow, busy! No matter what the script is, doesn't Vince always bring improvisation to it? How was that?

Reese: It's actually great. He's a wonderful collaborator. He's inspiring and he's so open. I was scared to death the first day. I was like 'Oh no! He's going to say a million things and I'm not going to know what to say back.' The good news is we had been working on it for five months in a room. I had gotten used to his personality and how fast his mind works. I said to him 'people can't talk as fast as you think.' You can't keep up with him. I feel like I've been in Vince Vaughn training.

TeenHollywood: Did you ever get him with your own improvised zinger?

Reese: I got him a couple of times. I have to say it's like a mental bench mark for me. I was like 'Yes! I got him!' Probably only twice. He gets me six times, and I get him twice.

TeenHollywood: You were talking about being height-challenged riding the Vespa. Vince is super tall. Was that a challenge?

Reese: It really is that the top of my head hits his armpit maybe. I drag my apple box around. I have an apple box, it's Reese's apple box, and I have a platform, and an apple box, and I just drag it with me and stand on it next to him. I should invest in some the next time I do a Vince Vaughn movie.

TeenHollywood: You said you enjoyed having the chance to play a broad. What are your tough girl qualities?

Reese: Fast talking, sharp shooting, tough girl. Yeah, I like to think I'm really tough on the outside.... [big grin] with a caramel sweet center. Most people who know me would agree.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.