We’re going through a phase lately where A-list actors and directors are signing up for unlimited projects, leading to what looks like potential logjams of scheduling conflicts. The latest talent to overbook is Reese Witherspoon, whose name has been attached to several upcoming features and just has been attached to one more.
The Legally Blonde beauty reportedly is in talks to star in The Good Lie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The based-on-true-events story follows a young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery and is transferred to the United States. A brash American woman (played by Witherspoon) helps the young man deal with his overwhelming culture shock, as well as the crippling guilt he suddenly feels about leaving his brother behind in their war-torn homeland.
THR says that Monsieur Lazhar director Philippe Falardeau is on tap to direct The Good Lie, from a screenplay by Margaret Nagle (Warm Springs). But when might Witherspoon shoot the film? In the past few months, she has signed on to the extroverted hiking drama Wild (with Nick Hornby handling the adaptation), the romantic-comedy The Beard, and the ensemble comedy Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. She also has said she wants to produce the adaptation of Gone Girl, which David Fincher has expressed interest in directing.
So it’s a race for Witherspoon’s time and attention. And it must be nice for the 36-year-old actress-producer to have extreme job security for the foreseeable future. But out of all the projects on Witherspoon’s plate, which would you rather see her tackle?
