Westboro Baptist Church Movie in the Works From Marc Webb, Nick Hornby
Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea are attached to produce the film, entitled ‘This Above All.’
Marc Webb is set to direct the feature film This Above All, based on the life of Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the hate-mongering Westboro Baptist Church.
Nick Hornby will pen the screenplay from a New Yorker article by Adrian Chen and Phelps-Roper’s upcoming memoir.
Phelps-Roper is the granddaughter of the famous founder of the Kansas-based church, which is known for picketing everything from sporting events to military funerals and protesting the LGBT community, Islam and politicians, among many other groups. She became one of the most powerful voices for WBC via social media, until her ongoing conversations with opponents over Twitter led her to question her belief system. Eventually, she and her younger sister made the decision to leave the Church — and therefore become disowned by their family.
Dawn Ostroff and Jeremy Steckler will produce for Conde Nast Entertainment, along with Webb. Bruna Papandrea, Reese Witherspoon and Bill Pohlad of River Road Entertainment, who previously worked with Hornby on the film adaption of Wild, will also produce.
River Road will finance This Above All. The deal was negotiated by CAA.
“When we read the New Yorker article about Megan’s incredible journey, we knew that it was the perfect fit for CNE’s film group,” stated Ostroff and Steckler. “Marc and Nick both have a powerful vision of how to tell Megan’s story and we are very happy to be partnered with Reese, Bruna and Bill, who understand the importance of bringing this project to the big screen.”
Webb recently helmed the Amazon feature The Only Living Boy in New York and the Chris Evans starrer Gifted, and is set to direct the pilot for CBS’ Instinct based on the James Patterson novel. He is repped by CAA, Anonymous and Lichter Grossman.
Hornby, who last worked on the Oscar contender Brooklyn, is repped by Casarotto Ramsay.
Scans from Reese’s cover feature in the September issue of Southern Living magazine have been added to our Gallery. Make sure you pick up a copy of the magazine if you can, it’s a beautiful spread! I’ve also added HD screencaptures from the behind the scenes videos.
Reese is gracing the cover of the September issue of Southern Living magazine! In the interview she talks about Draper James and her influences for this brand, her family life, and briefly about Big Little Lies and some of her favourite actresses work on screen. The interview is accompanied by a beautiful, laid back photoshoot showcasing items from Draper James.
Read the article and watch behind the scenes videos within this post, and find the photoshoot in our Gallery. We’ll have scans for you asap…
Reese Witherspoon’s Southern Charm
The Nashville native opens up to Julia Reed about family, her favorite hometown foods, and the Southern women who have inspired her every step of the way
What did you do for Mother’s Day?
We had lots of people over for lunch, including Laura Dern [Witherspoon’s close friend and costar in Wild and Big Little Lies] and her mom, [actress] Diane Ladd, who has become friends with my mom. It’s pretty cute—they really love each other and talk all the time. They’re even planning on taking a road trip together!
In my family, we say, “It doesn’t have to be true to be told.” At lunch, my mom was telling a story about when I moved out here and how she found my apartment and paid for it. I said, “Mom, you know none of that’s true, right?” I found my own apartment, and she did not do any of it! But most of the time, I don’t even bother to interrupt…I think there’s nothing better than a Southern person as they age. The stories get better and better and less and less true.
You often visit Nashville, where you’ve said you’re “so much more relaxed.” But Nashville is not nearly as relaxed—or sleepy— as it was when you were growing up there. How has it changed?
Lately, Nashville has experienced a lot more commerce, a lot of growth, and a lot of new ideas, which is awesome. And you can’t throw a rock without hitting some new culinary surprise. I like Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. Edley’s Bar-B-Que has great fried okra, one of my favorite foods. City House and Rolf and Daughters are really good, and Josephine is great for brunch. Five Daughters Bakery has the best doughnuts, and if we want a meat ’n’ three, we go to Swett’s Restaurant.
Reese Witherspoon Reveals Her Favorite Fashion Trend
The actress talks cowboy boots and prairie dresses for the fall season.
These looks remind me so much of the clothes I wore growing up in the South. I was always dressing in prairie skirts and cowboy boots when I was little. I loved to watch Little House on the Prairie and play cowgirl. My favorite childhood memories are rooted in country music, doing square dances in cowboy boots. I learned to clog- and line-dance before I learned the fox-trot. I’m very influenced by country singers like Loretta Lynn, and, of course, Dolly Parton is my biggest idol. And I loved all the gorgeous long, flowing lace dresses Sissy Spacek wore when she played Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter. Western is such a huge style in Nashville. There was a famous designer named Nudie, and everyone from Johnny Cash to Dolly Parton wore his suits. The clothes have real Western flair. It’s so cool to see the look being recognized now as a global fashion trend. Maybe it’s about returning to a time and place that people find comforting and when everything seemed simpler. But it’s always been a part of my life. I mean, you’re talking to the girl who wore cowboy boots to her own wedding reception. I switched out my gown and heels for a short dress and cowboy boots because they’re comfortable and fun to dance in. I do love the look of a pretty dress or a floor-sweeping skirt with cowboy boots. It’s feminine and a little rugged, which encapsulates my personality.
I remember being in fifth grade and begging my grandmother to buy me a prairie skirt, and when she finally did I wore it every day with white cowboy boots. I’m definitely a dress-or-denim-skirt-and-cowboy-boots sort of girl. Every time I put on a pair, I feel like I’m back home. It’s so funny because my daughter just walked into my room wearing an off-the-shoulder vintage prairie dress—she’s so on trend. Except that she was wearing sneakers, and I was like, “I wish you had some boots on.” I have so many pairs of cowboy boots; I buy them new from Betty Boots when I’m in Nashville. And I buy every single one of my kids cowboy boots, and they wear them until they fall off. I also wear mine until they’re threadbare. They look better when the leather is worn-out, then I resole them. The intricate stitching and detail on Western shirts are so pretty and add a little something, as do tasseled bags and purses. And I love cowboy hats, obviously. They’re beautiful, and they give a prairie dress or skirt that something extra. The best versions are those that aren’t overly embellished. I can wear a cowboy hat with anything—you have to own it. For an easy and chic way to incorporate a bit of Western into your wardrobe, I like the idea of a chambray shirt over a dress. We work a different iteration of the chambray and Western shirt into our Draper James collection [Witherspoon’s fashion label, which she launched in 2015] each season. For us down South, it’s the perfect layering piece because it’s so hot. Our Draper James chambray shirts and jeans are made in Blue Ridge, Georgia, by these wonderful women who have been making blue jeans for 40 years. It’s an honor to be part of that tradition. I think there’s a mood for wanting to celebrate classic Americana right now. The whole Western look is very romantic, and there’s no beating that wearability and durability factor.
This article originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of Harper’s BAZAAR, on newsstands now.
On Saturday Reese attended a screening of her new romantic comedy Home Again in East Hampton, New York. She was accompanied by her co-stars Pico Alexander and Jon Rudnitsky, director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, and producer Nancy Meyers. Reese looked super-chic in a dress by Isabel Marant, jewels from Irene Neuwirth, and heels by Christian Louboutin – I love this look on her! HQ photos are in our Gallery for you:
Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and ‘Big Little Lies’ Stars Detail Show’s ‘Tricky’ Journey
A version of this story on “Big Little Lies” first appeared in the Down to the Wire issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.
Four lead women in “Big Little Lies,” the HBO miniseries based on Liane Moriarty‘s book, all landed Emmy nominations, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon in the lead category and Laura Dern and Shailene Woodley in supporting. (Zoë Kravitz, the last of the main actresses, was left out.)
Dern, Woodley and actors/executive producers Kidman and Witherspoon described the rare experience of making the miniseries, which starts with a murder investigation and then slowly unveils victim, murderer and motive over 10 episodes. Alexander Skarsgard, who plays Kidman’s emotionally and physically abusive husband, was also nominated — but these conversation were about the women at the center of the miniseries.
REESE WITHERSPOON I found the manuscript and sent it to Nicole, and we decided to do the project together. She met with Liane Moriarty first and got the rights, and then we got David Kelly. And then Jean-Marc Vallee came on.
NICOLE KIDMAN For me, it was the complication of the women, and the strength of their stories, and the fact that it focused on the female relationships and was told primarily through the female point of view. That’s why the book was so appealing. And it seemed to warrant being told, because amidst the entertainment of it, underneath were issues that were incredibly topical and relevant and real.
WITHERSPOON We had to decide, Is it a miniseries or a movie? And we decided it would be better to do this for television. If we had done it as a two-hour movie, it might have been about two of the women, not all five.
KIDMAN I think it would be strange if Reese and I produced something that was all men. Don’t we have enough of those? So it was very important for us to throw our weight behind finding these great female roles, and calling our friends and people we admire. That was the glorious part of it.
David E. Kelley on Big Little Lies season 2: ‘We’re kicking it around’
In just seven episodes, Big Little Lies unspooled a tense murder mystery and provided whip-smart commentary on the daily absurdities of family life. “It’s always tricky blending tones,” says showrunner David E. Kelley. “You don’t want those comedic beats to steal the thunder of your dramatic through lines, and you don’t want the severity of the dramatic points to snuff out the fun.”
Fortunately, it worked: The show earned 16 Emmy nominations, including Best Limited Series and a Best Writing for a Limited Series nod for Kelley. He credits Big Little Lies’ successful tightrope walk to his colleagues, all Emmy-nominated for their roles in the project themselves: director Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild) along with stars Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, who pulled double duty as producers.
EW chatted with Kelley about the show’s “surprise” success, what the skilled cadre of actors — also including Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, and Zoë Kravitz — brought to their roles, and whether he thinks the limited series might get the second season some fans are craving.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Now that we’re a few months out from Big Little Lies, what kind of responses have you received? Has anything surprised you? DAVID E. KELLEY: It’s all been a surprise. You never know how these things will turn out. You sit down and you write them because you like them, and you congregate a cast and a crew that also responds to the material, and you make it to the best of your ability, and then you throw it out there, and you kinda cross your fingers and duck.
The first reward that you get is if we all like it and believe in what we made, so we had that. But in terms of the reaction to it, it’s just a big guess. So it was a surprise that it caught on with such a frenzy, but as surprises go, one of the better ones.
What are some of the scenes that you’re proudest of?
The ones that were the most difficult to write and the most disturbing to me were obviously the ones involving Celeste and the violence and domestic abuse. That was just tough stuff to wade into. It was really, I know, equally difficult — probably more so — for Nicole to play, and for Jean-Marc to direct. But there was some gratification when I saw it on the screen to see how well they had executed it. It was very powerful. We ended up being pretty proud of the depiction of it.
Let’s see… the finale. I loved the juxtaposition of suspense and music and love and murder. That was a big challenge to pull all that off in 60 minutes. I sat back and marveled at how well Jean-Marc balanced all those story lines and blended those tones.
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The Morning Show (2019)
