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Reese Witherspoon dropped a bombshell that’ll make you rethink her iconic roles. In a chat, Reese revealed she had no clue what Homosexuality was until she moved to LA. Yep, this powerhouse, who now champions diverse stories, didn’t get the talk growing up in conservative Tennessee. “I didn’t understand what homosexuality was,” she said. “My grandparents didn’t explain it. My parents didn’t explain it.” She only learned about it after meeting someone at an audition. Talk about a wake-up call!
This moment from Reese’s life inspired a crucial line in Little Fires Everywhere, the Hulu series she starred in and executive produced. Set in the ’90s, Reese’s character, Elena Richardson—an uptight, controlling mom from Ohio—was shaped by the very cultural bubble Reese had to break out of. “We incorporated some of the conversations I had with my grandmother afterward,” she explained, revealing how her grandmother once told her, “Homosexuality is very rare, Reese. That’s not a thing that happens very often.” Yeah, that’s what Reese grew up hearing in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994. So, naturally, it made its way into the script. Elena says it because that’s precisely what Reese was told.
This vulnerability from Reese sheds light on how personal experience often fuels powerful storytelling. For a show like Little Fires Everywhere, which tackles race, class, and sexuality, Reese could pull from real-life moments of ignorance and growth to bring authenticity to Elena’s character.
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