Reese Witherspoon is a Hollywood luminary—an A-lister who first rose to prominence with her starring turn in 2001’s Legally Blonde. Since then, she’s appeared in lightweight comedies and gritty dramas, winning an Oscar for playing June Carter in 2005’s Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. But her latest project may be among the most personal and poignant of her career.
In The Good Lie (coming out this weekend), Witherspoon plays Carrie, an employment agency counselor assigned to help a handful of young Sudanese refugees—three of the Lost Boys of Sudan—find jobs in the United States. It’s an uplifting tale that illustrates the incredibly difficult journey these refugees took in getting to America, and how one motivated person can make a huge difference.
I had a chance to talk with Witherspoon about the faith-tinged movie The Good Lie and how it impacted her.
Bob Waliszewski: I personally gravitate to films that can change lives, change culture, motivate people to do things for others in need. This film probably does all three.
Witherspoon: Yes, I agree. When I read the script I had very little knowledge about the Lost Boys of Sudan so I was just blown away by the experience that these little boys had had and little girls, and that they had endured so much. And then they had this other journey to go on, which was assimilating to American culture. I just thought it was a great film for families, for my own children, and for my own life.
Waliszewski: After meeting and working with some people who served as inspiration for the movie’s characters—Arnold Oceng (Mamere), Ger Duany (Jeremiah), Emmanuel Jal (Paul) and Kuoth Wiel (Abital)—I have to assume that some of their real life story has touched you in some way. Explain.
Witherspoon: Yes, they all have refugee experiences. Arnold’s parents were refugees, Kuoth’s parents were refugees, Emmanuel and Ger were both in refugee camps, one was a child soldier. So there would be moments on set that they would just floor us talking about walking thousands of miles, no shoes, and near starvation and complete dehydration, taking care of other people’s children, or watching children die or be[ing] shot next to them. All the while not knowing where they were going or if they would be safe when they got there. It was a very moving experience and one that made a very profound impact on my life, for sure.
Waliszewski: One very compelling scene, in my opinion, is when one of the characters, Jeremiah, quits his grocery job because his boss won’t let him distribute the food they were throwing away to the homeless. For me it was a stark reminder of the blessings that we have as Americans and the difficulties that many third-world countries face. Did that scene grab you like it did me, and if so, explain it?
Witherspoon: Absolutely. Reading that as a mother, and realizing how much waste we have in this country, you know it makes me crazy. Also, the emphasis that [the Lost Boys] have put on education [compared to the fact that] many kids in this country take it for granted that we have great schools, safe schools, and opportunities for kids to go to educate themselves and have a career. That is just unheard of in other countries. That’s why I think it’s a great film for families to take their kids. I am certainly going to take my 10-year-old son to see it because it [can] start a lot of great dinner table conversations about many different issues—not only about the things we take for granted but immigration: How do we feel about people coming into our country? And how should we feel?
Waliszewski: In this film you play the role of a worldly woman who sees helping these Sudanese lost boys as just part of her job, at least at first. She doesn’t seem to care that much. I like the way you’re characterized initially better than had your character started out as a kind of Mother Teresa-ish figure. I think it can help nudge filmgoers to greater empathy because your character changed.
Witherspoon: Yeah. I didn’t want to play white-American-woman-saving-these-African-kids. That didn’t interest me at all. So when the director and the screenwriter told me that [they] wanted to make her as flawed and as emotionally distraught as every other character in the film, [that appealed to me.] It’s more of a message of … [even] though we’re imperfect, there’s always something you can do for others.
Waliszewski: You once said, and I’m gonna quote you here, “I’ve always been choosing roles knowing that I have a daughter and [that] I have a responsibility to her and to the world to be representing women of strength. These are the women I know in life. I think it’s a natural extension of parenthood for you to feel like you’re responsible for the worlds you create, whether they be silly or serious. I think you are responsible for the art you put into the world.” That was from Fox News, 2009. Still feel that way?
Witherspoon: Yes. Absolutely. My daughter’s 15. I have [a nearly] 11-year-old son, and a 2-year-old son, and not every choice that you make is about showing perfection. I think when we see the human spirit and how we can bear the unbearable sometimes or overcome inconceivable things, it’s such an opportunity to lift spirits and consciousness. Hopefully people leave the theater a little more aware than they were.
Waliszewski: When I left the film screening I was handed a piece of paper and at the bottom it read: “Our hope is that this powerful film can bring greater awareness to the Lost Boys of Sudan and inspire action among viewers to give more of their lives to others. That’s what the filmmakers were hoping. What do you hope audiences take away from this film?
Witherspoon: I hope that it inspires family to have conversation. I think it’s a great thing to be able to take your kids to movies and have meaningful discussion with them. Kids have some of the greatest ideas about how they want to see the world, and what they want, and what kind of impact that they want to have on the world. I look forward to seeing it with my children, and I hope other people do as well.
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