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Archive for the ‘Producing’ Category

Big Little Lies: How Nicole Kidman convinced Reese Witherspoon to play Madeline

Is it any surprise that actor-producer Reese Witherspoon’s first major TV project, HBO’s hit miniseries Big Little Lies, resulted in not just an Emmy nomination for her, but a whopping 16 for the show overall? The star, who also produced literary adaptations Gone Girl and Wild, turned Liane Moriarty’s thriller into a moody, suspenseful — but wonderfully funny — must-watch series that has viewers begging for a second season. And as lovable but complicated busybody Madeline Martha Mackenzie, Witherspoon, 41, was at the top of her game, spitting the show’s funniest lines one moment and delivering taut drama the next.

EW caught up with Witherspoon ahead of the Emmy Awards (airing Sept. 17) to talk about making the switch from film to TV, what story lines could be explored in a potential season 2, and how her costar (and co-producer) Nicole Kidman convinced her that her comedic role was necessary for the series.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This is essentially your first TV role, aside from some guest spots.
REESE WITHERSPOON: Yeah, this is the only thing I’ve ever done! [Laughs] I’ve never done TV before, other than being Jennifer Aniston’s sister on Friends and a Lifetime movie when I was 15.

Tell me about making the switch. What was it like getting to spend so much more time with a character?
It’s a very different process. It’s a much longer process, but as an actor, the ability to dig deeper into a character and have more time to live with these characters, I think [helps] you create a more whole picture of a human life. Nicole [Kidman] and I were approached and asked to make it into a feature film right before we were about to make a decision about what network we were going to go with, and we just really felt like we wanted to tell the story of five women, not two, and there just wouldn’t be enough time within a film format to get that deep level of storytelling.

And also, to be quite frank, audiences are much more deeply invested in these long-form storytelling opportunities. I think you get a lot more engagement. You’re chasing the audience that is Nicole and I’s audience for years and years, but it’s also Shailene’s audience and Zoë Kravitz’s audience. It’s important to go where your audience is, not expect them to necessarily come to you.

You had to balance so much in this role: Madeline had dramatic and comedic scenes, and she was a bully as much as she was a protagonist.
It was funny, when we were making it, Laura Dern and I kept looking at each other and going, “I think we’re in a comedy and everybody else is in a drama.” But I think that’s what makes it relatable and why people see themselves in it, because there’s a part of it that is so much about the intimacy of marriage and relationships and parenting and the secrets we keep from each other. And then there’s this whole other element of tension and mystery and murder, and that any one of us is capable of something truly horrible at any moment.

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Last weekend Reese attended the Television Critics Association Awards in Beverly Hills, where Big Little Lies was nominated for 3 awards. It picked up the award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials, and Reese joined her director Jean-Marc Vallee, co-producers Per Saari, Nathan Ross, Bruna Papandrea, and writer David E. Kelly on stage to accept the award – congratulations to the Big Little Lies crew! Reese looked elegant in a little black dress by Antonio Berardi with jewellery from Eva Fehren. HQ photos from the event can be found in our Gallery:

Summer TCA Tour – Television Critics Association Awards x21



The Television Critics Association Announces 2017 TCA Awards Winners

The Television Critics Association (TCA) recognized the top programs and actors from the 2016-2017 television season tonight at its 33RD Annual TCA Awards presentation. The prestigious organization’s event was held at the Beverly Hilton hotel, hosted by EMMY® and TONY®-winning entertainer Kristin Chenoweth.

The results were determined from votes cast by the TCA’s membership, comprised of more than 220 professional TV critics and journalists from the United States and Canada. The winners represent a diverse lineup of series and stars in 12 distinct categories, putting the spotlight on the absolute best in comedy, drama, reality, miniseries, news, and youth programming. Highlights included Hulu earning its first TCA awards on the strength of its freshman dystopian thriller THE HANDMAID’S TALE, which took home top honors for Program Of The Year and Outstanding Achievement In Drama; as well as ABC’s heartwarming family comedy SPEECHLESS, which won in the category of Outstanding Achievement In Youth for its unique family dynamic and strong, heartfelt storylines.

For the second year in a row, FX emerged as one of the evening’s biggest winners. The network snagged a TCA-leading three awards thanks to its dynamic new series ATLANTA, which earned Outstanding Achievement In Comedy, and scored an Individual Achievement In Comedy Award for series star and creator Donald Glover. Rounding out the network’s big night was an Individual Achievement In Drama Award for Carrie Coon, who made TCA awards history by being recognized for two separate performances. Coon was recognized for her standout roles as the tech-challenged police chief Gloria Burgle on FX’s twisting crime caper FARGO and playing the emotionally resilient Nora Durst on HBO’s spiritually-rich drama series THE LEFTOVERS.

Additionally, NBC’s beloved interpersonal drama THIS IS US was recognized as the season’s Outstanding New Program; HBO’s star-studded suburban murder mystery BIG LITTLE LIES came away with the award for Outstanding Achievement In Movies, Miniseries, and Specials; A&E’s investigative true-life series LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH received the award for Outstanding Achievement In Reality Programming; and ESPN’s provocative five-part documentary event O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA nabbed Outstanding Achievement In News and Information.

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Inside Vanity Fair’s First Founders Fair with Reese Witherspoon, Sasheer Zamata, Tory Burch, and More

At Vanity Fair’s inaugural Founders Fair last April, entrepreneurial women—including Tory Burch, Reese Witherspoon, and the co-chairs of the Women’s March—talked about what it takes.

While there’s ample evidence that there are still ceilings for professional women to shatter (Exhibit A: the White House), female entrepreneurs are having a moment. This was plain to witness at the first Vanity Fair Founders Fair, at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, in April, where risk-takers, business leaders, and investors shared stories of having ignored naysayers and turning bright ideas into businesses. Tory Burch, in conversation with Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, explained why she firmly believes retail still has a place—alongside e-commerce—in her eponymous fashion empire. The national co-chairs of the Women’s March told how they turned angst from disparate Facebook groups into 1.2 million placard-wielding, pink-hat-wearing demonstrators the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Reese Witherspoon—a producer, Oscar-winning actress, and the founder of lifestyle brand Draper James—revealed how she still isn’t taken as seriously as her male counterparts. “A guy has one hit and they say he deserves an Oscar. One guy will have a hit at Sundance and he gets Jurassic Park,” she said. “A woman has a hit at Sundance and it takes her like six more movies to get a big movie.” Indeed, grit was a theme of the event. Julie Deane, founder of the Cambridge Satchel Company, described how she started her business by calling a shopkeeper every 35 minutes for almost two days until he revealed the name of a key supplier. “This is where being the most tenaciously annoying person and the best nagger in the world really comes into its own,” she declared. With founders such as Deane growing in force, the glass ceiling doesn’t stand a chance.

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Reese Witherspoon on ‘Big Little Lies’ Season 2 Potential: “We’re Optimistic”

The actress talks to THR about the future of the limited series, the other TV character she’d like to play and the project she had to turn down because of the critically lauded HBO drama.

Ever since Big Little Lies wrapped its critically lauded run on HBO in April, there have been rumblings of a possible second season of the limited series.

Reese Witherspoon tells The Hollywood Reporter that those conversations are ongoing, and that she’s “optimistic” about doing more of the drama, which is based on Liane Moriarty’s book of the same name.

Ahead of the Emmys, the Oscar-winning actress chatted with THR about the future of the limited series, the other TV character she’d like to play and the project she had to turn down because of Big Little Lies.

There’s been talk of a potential second season of Big Little Lies. What’s the latest?

Honestly, it’s totally in [novelist] Liane Moriarty’s court. The ball is definitely in her court because these characters were born of her mind and her imagination, and we just want to see if she’s interested in creating more story about these characters. She really created an incredible road map for us that we followed almost to a T. Right now, we’re happy if this is all there is. We’re optimistic that there might be more.

And you’re talking to writer David E. Kelley about a second season as well?

Yes, he’s our producing partner.

What goes into the decision of continuing a limited series?

It just comes down to, do we have the story? It was a stand-alone book and there was nothing after that, so it’s up to the mind of the writer to create the vision for the journey of these characters. Right now, we have nothing. We don’t have a book. We’re certainly not going to create it out of thin air. [Moriarty’s] very deft at, first of all, creating tension through mystery, but also digging deep into the very intimate lives of female friendships — their relationships, their romantic relationships, their parenting styles.

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July 28, 2017   •  Category: News & Gossip, Pacific Standard0 Comments

Shaun Grant To Adapt ‘Penguin Bloom’; Naomi Watts To Star

Australian scribe Shaun Grant has signed on to adapt Penguin Bloom, the top-selling Australian book optioned last December by Naomi Watts, Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea for a film that will star Watts. The trio is producing the film with Aussie-based producer Emma Cooper.

Set on Sydney’s northern beaches, Penguin Bloom is the true story of a unique little bird that saves a family. The book is written by Bradley Trevor Greive, with photographs by Cameron Bloom. Cameron and Sam Bloom and their three boys were an everyday family until a shocking, near-fatal accident left Sam paralyzed. She fell from a balcony while on holiday in Thailand, and was left paralyzed from the chest down. As the family struggled to adjust to her new situation, an unlikely ally entered their lives in the form of an injured Magpie chick which the Bloom clan called Penguin. The wild bird became a mascot for the family. The book was published in April in the U.S. under the title Penguin The Magpie.

Grant’s recent scripting credits include the Teresa Palmer-starrer Berlin Syndrome, the Aussie film Jasper Jones and Snowtown. Other percolating projects include True History Of The Kelly Gang, which reunites Grant with Snowtown helmer Justin Kurzel, and the political thriller A Man With No Enemies.

Paradigm and The Fleming Agency rep Grant.

(Deadline)



Deadline hosted a ‘For Your Consideration’ panel and Q&A For Big Little Lies on Tuesday, in honour of its impressive 16 Emmy nominations. Reese, Nicole Kidman, Jean-Marc Vallee and Alexander Skarsgaard were in attendance and spoke about how they got the show into production and some of the issues raised within the show. Reese wore a monochrome dress by Oscar de la Renta with Stella Luna shoes. I love seeing the cast together again! We have HQ photos in our Gallery for you, and several videos from the panel and red carpet within this post:

HBO’s “Big Little Lies” FYC Screening x32



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Congratulations to Reese and her Big Little Lies cast and crew for their Emmy nominations today! Reese scored a nomination for Best Actress in a Limited Series or a Television Movie alongside her co-star Nicole Kidman, and the show gained an impressive total of 16 nominations!

The Emmy Awards will be held on September 17th.

Best Limited Series
Big Little Lies (HBO)
Fargo (FX)
Feud: Bette and Joan (FX)
Genius (National Geographic)
The Night Of (HBO)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or a Television Movie
Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies)
Jessica Lange (Feud)
Susan Sarandon (Feud)
Reese Witherspoon (Big Little Lies)
Carrie Coon (Fargo)
Felicity Huffman (American Crime)

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Television Movie
Laura Dern (Big Little Lies)
Judy Davis (Feud)
Jackie Hoffman (Feud)
Regina King (American Crime)
Michelle Pfeiffer (The Wizard of Lies)
Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies)

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Television Movie
Bill Camp (The Night Of)
Alfred Molina (Feud)
Alexander Skarsgard (Big Little Lies)
David Thewlis (Fargo)
Stanley Tucci (Feud)
Michael K. Williams (The Night Of)

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The THR 100: Hollywood Reporter’s Most Powerful People in Entertainment

The second annual ranking brings new blood (Sony’s Tony Vinciquerra), stars who also produce (welcome, Reese!) and two Jenkinses (Barry and Patty), along with the movers and multihyphenates who make the town run and the stock prices soar.

Who in this town has actual power, anyway? In short, the people on this list do.

In compiling the THR 100, our second annual ranking of Hollywood’s most powerful people, we used one overarching criterion: the power of “yes.” THR 100 essentially is a greenlight list: who has the authority to take projects from a no to a yes or the talent and track record to make what he or she wants. There are objective factors, like the size of an executive’s empire (owning it helps, a la Shari Redstone), access to vast sums of money (both Megan Ellison and David Ellison) or the number of series a showrunner has on the air and their ratings (congrats, Ryan Murphy).

Then there’s the subjective element of heat around town: “juice,” for lack of a better word. The Murdoch family’s 21st Century Fox is far more profitable than Netflix, but Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos rank higher because there’s no company more the subject of Hollywood fascination and envy these days than theirs. Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman probably will end up grossing less worldwide than F. Gary Gray’s The Fate of the Furious, but the fact that Jenkins broke ground for female directors lands her (and not him) on the list. And so on.

In dozens of off-the-record conversations with top players, our team got an honest assessment of the pecking order at TV networks and film studios, the influence of talent agencies and the true value of stars (hint: It helps a lot when you also produce). Then the internal debate began: We started with 2016’s list but weren’t beholden to it. Some have risen significantly (producer Jason Blum rockets from 98 to 40 thanks to the surprise hits Get Out and Split), some have dropped (STX’s Bob Simonds and Adam Fogelson had a rough year at the box office) and some have fallen off entirely (sorry, Ben Affleck). And while Hollywood’s upper echelon remains overwhelmingly white and male, it’s a small sign of increasing inclusiveness that the number of women on the list (24, up from 19) and people of color (17, up from 10) are on the rise.

So congrats to everyone on the THR 100. You have actual power in this town.

98/100 Reese Witherspoon
Actor/producer

The 41-year-old Oscar winner has emerged as one of the most formidable producers in film and television, snapping up new projects with a keen eye on adaptations and vehicles for other actresses. Her acting day job has yet to slow down, with upcoming roles in Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time and late-summer romantic comedy Home Again. She’ll also take the occasional gig from her own Hello Sunshine shingle — most notably HBO’s hit Big Little Lies.

BIG WIN Assembling an A-list cast, Nicole Kidman for one — in HBO’s Big Little Lies.

BIG BET Teasing the possibility of a second BLL season.

•••

Best advice I’ve received about power I had the privilege of working with Oprah Winfrey on a movie for three months this year, and she taught me so much about business. She does not waste a minute of her time, and she does it all with grace and style and humor. She is hustle personified.

What I’ve learned about my job from my kids My kids help me understand emerging platforms and the opportunity there to reach a broader audience. It inspired me to expand my production company into digital and mobile content for women and create a dialogue on social media with my fans.

My primary news source The Wall Street Journal, the Skimm and Business of Fashion.

THR










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Current Projects
The Morning Show (2019)
Seasons 1 & 2 available now on AppleTV+
Season 3 coming in 2023

Role: Bradley Jackson
Genre: Apple TV+ Series - Drama
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Your Place Or Mine (2023)
On Netflix now
Role: Debbie
Genre: Romantic comedy
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Legally Blonde 3 (202?)
In production
Role: Elle Woods
Genre: Comedy
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