How do you know it’s not working? Ask Reese Witherspoon, who goes on the date from hell in “How Do You Know.”

In real life, she says, “once I went on a blind date and he corrected my grammar. I knew in the first 10 minutes that the date was over.”

In the new romantic comedy, Witherspoon plays an athlete who must chose between two suitors played by Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson.

Q. What was it like to play a more non-sentimental woman who is confused about love?

A. It was interesting. I’ve done a lot of comedies where the woman talks about the man. She runs around going, “What should I do?” She cries to her girlfriends about love. The woman I play in this movie has a hard time conveying her own emotions. She doesn’t even really want to talk about things. She says to her boyfriend, played by Owen Wilson, “If I wake up in the middle of the night crying, just ignore me.” No woman would say that in real life to her boyfriend! I usually play more verbal characters. This woman is more internal.

Q. You play a woman who is not that interested in settling down and getting married. Can you relate?

A. I have a lot of friends like that. This role was written so beautifully. I love that she’s not afraid to be honest about not wanting what other women want. Obviously, it’s not like me. I have two kids and a very settled-down life.

Q. Your softball player character must leave the sports biz because she’s getting older. Ever worry about aging in Hollywood?

A. It’s a parallel to being an actor. As a woman, we have a time. It’s our time to work, we work a lot, and then hopefully you shift and become the Meryl Streeps or Diane Keatons of this business. I do know actresses have a shelf life and an expiration date.

– suntimes.com