Reese Witherspoon Reveals the Film That Shaped Her Career

Whether she’s dazzling as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, channelling June Cash in Walk the Line, or plotting as the scheming high schooler in Election, Reese Witherspoon has spent years quietly upending the cliché of the sunny blonde. Lately, though, her influence has shifted from the spotlight to the producer’s chair, where she’s become a force in the industry, championing stories that put women front and centre. Her producing journey began in the early 2000s, well before her Oscar win, but it was the runaway success of projects like Wild, Gone Girl, and Big Little Lies that truly cemented her reputation as a powerhouse behind the scenes.

Witherspoon’s production slate is now packed with films and series that revolve around complex female characters, often with women at the helm. It’s a rare approach in an industry still slow to back female-driven stories with significant budgets. Her projects, from the glossy intrigue of Gone Girl to the Southern gothic of Where the Crawdads Sing, tend to lean into melodrama, but she’s never been shy about her influences, drawing inspiration from the genre’s golden age.

Looking Back to Move Forward

During the awards season for Wild in 2015, Witherspoon was asked to name her all-time favourite film. She didn’t hesitate, reaching for a title from a period when Hollywood took female characters seriously, even if it kept women out of the director’s chair.

“I saw Splendor in the Grass on TV, and I just thought it was so beautiful… I thought Natalie Wood was amazing, and Warren Beatty, his first movie; it was just beautiful.”

Directed by Elia Kazan, who’d already won an Oscar for On the Waterfront, Splendor in the Grass arrived in 1961 as a full-blooded melodrama. Set in 1920s Kansas, it follows two teenagers, played by Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, whose romance is battered by the expectations and repression of their small-town world. The story spirals into heartbreak: she’s institutionalised, he ends up working on a ranch. The film doesn’t shy away from heavy themes—rape, suicide, fatal accidents, and a good deal of weeping, all set to the backdrop of a whispered Wordsworth poem and thick Midwestern accents. It’s a testament to Kazan and his cast that the film lands as a genuine tearjerker rather than veering into parody.

Melodrama and Its Legacy

At the time, critics were divided. Some admired the film’s frankness about sex and repression, while others found it a bit much. The cultural landscape shifted quickly; by the late 1960s, films like The Graduate, Blow Up, and Easy Rider had pushed boundaries even further, making the earlier hand-wringing over Splendor in the Grass seem almost quaint. Yet, as Witherspoon points out, the emotional punch of the film remains undiminished. The shock value may have faded, but Kazan’s knack for coaxing unforgettable performances from his actors still resonates decades later.