The Gallery has been updated today with HD screencaptures from Reese’s first movie – The Man In The Moon. The quality is gorgeous, and there are lots of beautiful shots of young Reese. This is without a doubt one of my favourite Reese films and performances – she carries the film so naturally and confidently, it’s incredible to think that this was her very first acting role. The film itself is summed up just perfectly by famed movie critic Robert Ebert:

Roger Ebert: When this movie was over, I sat quietly for a moment so that I could feel the arc of its story being completed in my mind. They had done it: They had found a way all the way from the beginning to the end of this material, which is so fraught with peril, and never stepped wrong, not even at the end, when everything could have come tumbling down. “The Man in the Moon” is a wonderful movie, but it is more than that, it is a victory of tone and mood. It is like a poem.

“The Man in the Moon” is like a great short story, one of those masterpieces of language and mood where not one word is wrong, or unnecessary. It flows so smoothly from start to finish that it hardly even seems like an ordinary film. Usually I am aware of the screenwriter putting in obligatory scenes. I can hear the machinery grinding. Not this time. Although, in retrospect, I can see how carefully the plot was put together, how meticulously each event was prepared for, as I watched the film I was only aware of life passing by.

Reese fell into this role after she responded to a casting advert in a local paper – she thought it would be fun to try out as an extra in the film. She didn’t know she got the leading role until she was sent the script and noticed her character was on every page!

Reese Witherspoon: “I came in with such innocence, not seeing this as a debut performance but a wonderful summer job! I was so worried I was gonna get fired! It’s like, I’d better learn my lines and I’d better wake up early and be there early for the car to pick me up. I took it very seriously, but I also had a really good time.”

Enjoy the updated HD screencaptures:

• The Man In The Moon > Film Screencaptures