Well, this sort of explains things. I’ve been wondering about Reese Witherspoon’s career lately. Reese’s business/career moves for the past few years have indicated that she was ready and willing to reboot her film career and rebrand herself as a go-to dramatic and comedic (and even action) leading lady. But the parts never really came, despite the fact that she’s married to one of the most well-connected and powerful agents in LA. And before everyone jumps on me, yes, I know she’s a producer too. She’s producing Gone Girl and she’s rumored to be eyeing some other big projects too. If she was easing into a more behind-the-scenes role in Hollywood, that would be one thing. But she’s not.
What she is doing is branding herself into a lifestyle product, much like Jessica Alba, Gwyneth Paltrow and Blake Lively (we’re still waiting on the groundbreaking lifestyle blog from Blake though). According to WWD:
C. Wonder president Andrea Hyde has been hired by Reese Witherspoon to be chief executive officer of her as-yet-unnamed lifestyle company. The omnichannel venture, which will emphasize Witherspoon’s Southern roots and personal style, will launch in 2015. Hyde’s last day as president of C. Wonder will be Friday.
So, Southern Goop. Only – to give Gwyneth some credit – Goop started out as a smaller idea, and it grew somewhat organically into this huge Goop Brand where there’s now a Goop online store and there are outside partnerships with Tracy Anderson and all of that. It sounds like Reese doesn’t have any interest in building a base of online fans and then easing herself into a lifestyle brand. She wants to start at the top, which is why she hired someone major (a real executive) to run this venture.
I do kind of wonder… is this the state of Hollywood? Would Gwyneth, Jessica Alba, Blake and Reese be branding themselves into lifestyle mavens if they were actually in-demand as actresses? Is lifestyle branding the “easy way” to go now, when the parts dry up but you still want people to pay attention? And like Gwyneth, does this mean we get to analyze every part of Reese’s life now? Because that’s what making yourself into a lifestyle brand is all about – “look at the way I live, buy the clothes I buy, have the kind of marriage I have, mother your children the way I mother, and don’t forget to bitch out your arresting officer!”
Now, all that being said, if Reese does a Southern Goop site, I will totally visit it. COUNTRY GOOP, Y’ALL.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
A good idea??
NO.
She may be from the South, but she’s been based in LA.. and so much has changed in the South! Is she the best representative for it? Good luck to her, but honestly, I think I’d rather stick with my Garden & Gun magazine – they have Southern chic, cooking, cocktails & culture and it’s very approachable (plus affordable!).
I disagree. I believe she will be incredibly successful if she markets this towards Southerners. Folks back home absolutely adore her. Most folks back home aren’t on the gossip sites and only know the Sweet Southern Lady persona she portrays.
I’m a little surprised. I know Witherspoon’s had a couple of flops recently, but I thought her acting career was doing better than that and I’d anticipated she might be interested in production. Joining Goop and a couple of mocktresses seems a little beneath her.
This
I’m actually not that surprised. These days more and more legit actresses have been branching into fashion/lifestyle. Cameron Diaz recently wrote a lifestyle book and was named “creative director” of some shoe/handbag brand. (forget the name) Drew Barrymoore started her own makeup and wine companies. I just remembered that Reese is actually friends with both of these ladies as well as Gwyneth. I’ve seen them post photos of themselves taking cooking classes, attending fashion shows, etc on instagram/twitter. Reese is also papped a lot, ususally dressed in a stylish outfit. I think she’s been building up to this for a while.
I just got the feeling that her acting career may got a boost this year. Aren’t her next two films by PT Anderson (with J.Phoenix) and Jean-Marc Vallée, the guy who just directed two Oscar-winning performances for McConaughey and Leto?
Maybe because The man in the moon came out when I was a teen I keep a soft spot for her.
And rom coms are not exactly my thing, so I can’t say anything about her performances in them, but at some points she made interesting choices and delivered good performances. Election, Pleasantville, Freeway or American Psycho display diverse characters. I’m even guilty of liking her Cecily in The importance of being earnest (even if those who made me watch it in the first place are Firth and Everett).
That alone puts her in a different category from Alba or Lively.
I agree that Reese has had a pretty good career. My point is that it’s not just the mocktresses that are branching into lifestyle, but a-listers as well. Plus, starting a lifestyle brand doesn’t mean that her acting career is over. Its just another outlet.
mocktresses! +1
Beneath her? But she and Goop are close friends.
There’s money in this, though. She can do both. GOOP herself still styles herself as a proper actress, after all…
Yes, she’ll give you tips on how to behave when you get stopped for drunk driving.
Tip one: when getting pulled over, act as obnoxious as possible.
Tip two: if that doesn’t work, lie your ass off and see if that will work in your benefit.
Reese WAS trashed (haven’t we all been?).
😉
But, just a reminder, she wasn’t the one driving. Her husband was, and I read he was just over the limit- that’s why he wasn’t prosecuted to the full extent like some people are. So if your blood alcohol is dangerously over, you are basically screwed.
I get it. We’ve all been in situations that we shouldn’t be in, some worse then others. My snarky comments were in response to her behavior. The cop was doing his job and everyone in the situation was acting correctly, expect for her.
Her reply to the officer: Do you know who I am? You will know. She sounded like the wife from hell. Yes we have all been trashed probably without that sense of entitlement though.
IKR? I am still totally grossed out by this incident. Never was that big a fan to begin with, but the entitlement of her actions that night, and the smugness she displayed with her staged “regular gal” photo ops have totally turned me off. I don’t want her advice on anything. She probably needs my advice!
@Liv My favorite reply from her to the cop was “This is Beyond.” I still use that.
I will never buy anything entitled Reese is promoting or selling. She is unkind and egotistical. Yes indeed, we all know who Reese truly is, after the drunkface video. Disappointing.
@Lauren
Same here. I won;t be paying to see anything with this idiot, ever.
An AMERICAN CITIZEN FRONTED WEBSITE!! Just what we really….. didnt need; seriously why do they all wanna be Martha Stewart sexed up?? Whhhhyyy??? How did this become the thing? Fading actresses and mocktresses flodding our internets
Also: All that cleavage and kicky (chinny?) new sexed up attrition by sexy tour of duty for a Lifestyle site… What a waste of build up!
Laura Jean Poon? Advice about? Men? Ryan Cheating Phillippe? Drinking and encouraging drunk driving? Fat-shaming colleagues like Melissa McCarthy? Riding the coattails of her distant relative who signed the Declaration of Independence? GAHHHHHHH. Never.
What did she say about Melissa?
Lol. I didn’t hear about Reese fat-shaming Melissa, but you’re spot on with everything else you’ve listed.
It’s a solved blind, basically. Google Reese and Melissa or go to Lainey. I’m pretty sure Lainey outed her. They were honored together at Elle Women in Hollywood and she didn’t want to be pictured next to her!
So glad you mentioned the bragging about her Declaration signing relative. Add to that her well educated parents (because it’s so important to let everyone know about job titles, doctorates, etc.).
I have a question…when people believe that a person or a segment is being disparaged…why do they insult that person or segment when they point out the infraction? Case in point, “fat-shaming.” Isn’t that calling Melissa fat? It is like the term “slut-shaming.” Why, call a person a slut, and then call out someone else for alleging they are promiscious? It seems to insult the very people who are trying to defend.
That has always been my take, and perplexed me. I know it is the norm these days to use these terms, and I am not trying to be rude, I’m just curious. I guess I’m too literal. I know it’s a gossip site, but I’ll take an education anywhere I can get one.
I understand what you’re driving at. I’ve been overweight. I’ve been called fat and described as fat and it’s not enjoyable. This a site where you write your thoughts really quickly. The disparager, in question, see’s Melissa’s size as “fat,” specifically in juxtaposition to her own perceived svelteness. I just didn’t take the time to write 10 words describing… the experience of being bullied or persecuted for one’s size…because it’s longer.
I don’t see her being quite as pretentious and snooty about it as Gwenyth, so it might work better, but I don’t know. If it’s just a business venture outside showbiz, I think that’s good, but branding yourself and trading on your celebrity is always a little iffy.
She isn’t as huge a star as she once was, but she’s still acting steadily and producing now – which I’m always glad to see women doing.
This is pretty much where I am on the topic. While I always roll my eyes when yet another celebrity dabbles in the “lifestyle advice” line of work, I can’t exactly fault them, either. It gives them near-constant press, especially if they aren’t exactly getting a ton of work anymore. It probably helps to diversify. I hate to use a cliche, but you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket.
Waiting for her short skirt phase to be over. Your skirt shouldn’t be shorter than Ava’s, mom.
Life style brands are the new perfume and infomercials. Quick way to cash in on your name and fame for very little work.
Yup… I was going to say for celebs lifestyle brands are the new restaurants.
Gwyneth Paltrow must be in heaven right now. Atleast, her goop is polarizing. Southern-Goop is just going to kill any likeability that Reese has. I’m looking forward to disliking and enjoying my dislike of southern-goop on a daily basis. The only thing can salvage this is a Rooney Mara fronted goop about wearing black and white and throwing shade at your sister. La Mara thinks she is too classy/celebrated for that though.
This is interesting…Rooney throws shade at Kate?? Kate’s the better actress. Rooney doing a shittier/anorexic version of what Noomi Rapace killed already… She’s so ironic, lol.
There was an interview w/ some subtle shade a while back. I believe Rooney stated that she had the opportunity to go the child star route like her sister, but decided not to because she wanted to be taken seriously. Err, here’s the quote.
“My sister started acting when she was young,” Mara says of the elder Kate, who’s currently starring in the Netflix political thriller “House of Cards.” “But I just knew I didn’t want to be a child actor. I knew I wanted to go to school and wanted to start when I was older, so I would be taken seriously.”
It’s probably bad phrasing on her part, but then again, unintended shade is usually the best kind like when the announcer at the Golden Globes announced that Paula Patton’s next movie would be the World of Warcraft movie. Pure unintended shade.
Keiser / Bedhead whomever wrote this, DO NOT compare Reese to Goop. Just, no. Reese does what Reese wants. The clip of her arrested was hilarious. You could tell she had WAYY too much wine lol. She was adorable with that cop, who had to wait while this drunk blonde actress bitched at him. it was funny and completely real lol. Goop is totally manufactured and annoying. She can’t act at all. Whomever thought she was good in Shakespeare in Love can say what they want
I like Goop better. She’s a snob and she owns it. And isn’t her career doing better than Reese’s?
And I’m sure the policeman thought it was hilarius. Sure.
What’s it titled “How Not to Get Arrested in the South”
She. Is. The WORST! Pretty much open secret in Hollywood that she is…um…let’s say, “touched” — and not in a good “Michael” kind of way.
huh?
Michael was a movie about an angel who has special powers. I decided to go with the word “touched”, which can be a euphemism for “asshole”, but can also be used to describe someone with “magic powers”.
just because there isn’t a kardashian post up today (yay!), i thought i would add this to this one, as it speaks to a “lifestyle brand.” i just got an email from babies r us that they are starting to sell the “kardashian kids” line. good lord. what will THAT consist of? ill-fitting baby clothes in the ugliest colors imaginable?
Well the Kardashians don’t actually design anything. They get others to do the work for them. The kid’s line might not be bad, but these women have tarnished their name so badly that who would want to put those clothes on their kids? Kim is so picky about what her own daughter wears, will she dress her daughter in her own kid’s line? Doubt it.
it only makes sense, they already look like they’re wearing diapers under their clothes.
Reese has a type-A personality and snootiness so I’m not surprised that she thinks she can be the Southern Goop. Her career in terms of acting in quality or critically acclaimed films has not gone anywhere in the last decade. I really cannot remember the last time she’s been in anything other than a silly romcom. Her career was already going downhill by the time she revealed her true self and further damaged her reputation and public persona. I feel like Reese has been going through a mid-life crisis the last several years with the drunk driving, disorderly conduct, hanging out with Chelsea Handler, and going commando in a miniskirt on a windy day. Even though I’m sure there would be interest in her style site, I really don’t think this is what she should choose to do with her time right now. Her name brand is damaged. She needs to spend more time on fixing her image and maybe starring in a few quality indie films and stop making romcoms.
Reese acted in a lot of really great movies in her early 20s. Even though it was Legally Blonde that launched her into superstardom, most of her best roles were prior to making Legally Blonde. After Legally Blonde, things kind of went downhill excluding her Oscar win for Walk the Line, which I still haven’t seen yet so I can’t comment on whether she deserved the Oscar for her role in that movie. Still, she should have taken on meatier roles rather than selling out and starring in horrible romcoms for a large paycheck. Maybe she doesn’t care about building her acting career anymore since she already has an Oscar and millions of dollars. A lot of Oscar winners become lazy after winning the award. I guess they don’t feel the need to work as hard after winning.
There’s nothing wrong with rom coms. Do rom coms and own it.
I love romcoms, but for an Oscar winning actress, that shouldn’t be the only genre she stars in most of the time for an entire decade. Also, the romcoms she’s chosen have been panned by critics. It’s not like she was starring in a quality romcom like Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones, etc. She’s starred in critically panned romcoms such as How Do You Know, This Means War, Just Like Heaven, and Four Christmases. None of these films will make it onto a top RomComs of All Time list.
It is so funny to hear any work referred to as a “silly movies” and rom-coms and selling out just for a paycheck. Are you serious?? The movies they do, whether they are drama are comedy take a lot of time and talent to do. What is your definition of acting?? They have to take Any role they sign on to play & develop it… that takes talent not only that they have to own the outcome go or bad that takes a little bit of guts to do. Could you w/stand all the criticism these people get?? I think the salary may take away some of the pain..
Actually, no, one doesn’t need talent to star in a film. Yes, it is work, but are you seriously trying to defend or sympathise with Reese withstanding criticism for receiving a $15 million paycheck to star in box office bombs like How Do You Know? Give me a break. Oh, I’m sure that $15 million paycheck took away a lot of pain she felt for acting in a horrible 2 hour film.
On paper I can see why she took that one – James L Brooks directing her, Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson, plus a big paycheck. Maybe the script was good at one point, or it ended up being a different movie than she expected. Everyone has some bombs on their resume.
She was recently in Mud, which I haven’t seen yet but is supposed to be very good. Maybe that’s a start to taking smaller, more interesting roles.
Be careful! Her next role is rumored to be Oscar baity
I think all of this lifestyle branding on the internet is just a natural projection of blogging/social media. Look how big Pinterest is, people want other people to tell them how to decorate the houses and how to make healthy food. I’m not bashing it because I really like Pinterest and it’s so easy to find good recipes. I agree though, It seems like these women want to stay relevant when they aren’t getting roles so they think this will be a fun and easy way to get a paycheck.
Why all the criticism ? She wants to start her own company as so many women in America do. Good for her and all the other women that can do that and make it work. She was making movies, & decides she wants something else does not mean her acting career is over. She has that option. If she continues to act, be a wife, mother only, producer, director or whatever she chooses she really can. That takes a lot of courage not a “she can’t do anything else ” because you have no idea her actions should be admired no berated. Her career is fine and so is Blake Lively & Gwen Paltrow. These are successful women whether you want to admit it or not because they have your attention otherwise you would have passed this article up!! How you feel if you decided to take you life/career in new direction, I would suspect you would want encouragement….NOT criticism!!
“Country my ass!”
This is what happens to women as they age in Hollywood. The roles dry up for them, yet the men can play leading roles well into their 60’s and beyond. To be honest, Jessica Alba made a wise choice when she started her company because we all know she can’t act.
With regards to Goop, who are the people who read and listen to her advice? I’m guessing it’s catered to the rich non-celeb types?
The drunk driving thing killed my love for her. In vino veritas. I will pass on the web site.
Yeah as soon as I find out someone has a DUI, I lose all respect for them.
Plus she seems to be going the way of Kim K…”what sex tape”…and with Reese it’s “what drunken arrest?”. Smug, way too smug about it.
She doesn’t have a DUI.
Yeah I know, her husband was the one who got the DUI, he was driving. But allowing a person to drink and drive is just as bad as driving the car yourself while intoxicated.
Say what you will (and when it comes to Goop i could say plenty) but it is no coincidence that many of these top actresses in the same group are starting these ventures. They are aging out by Hollywood standards and get paid less than male actors of the same status to begin with. As they get older the roles will get smaller or more indie type pay scales. I don’t blame them for venturing out.
I could actually see Reese’s thing working. Ive found that most women have positive association towards her from Legally Blonde. They don’t follow gossip they way we obsessed CBers do. Even the druken tirade didn’t dispel that.
I think her appeal to people is over. The indignant attitude towards the police in Georgia did it for me. Don’t think she’s Americas Sweetheart anymore.
Agreed. I don’t think she is in any way likeable but also isn’t unlikeable in a Goop way either. To me, she is uninteresting and I am not interested in anything she has to offer.
My issue is her total fake persona. She was created by a marketing company and every topic she discusses seems scripted and tied to her next project or brand advancement moment. She hasn’t lived in the south for twenty years. She named her kid Tenessee probably to reinforce her southern branding for her life style venture. We will all be drowning in fake southern manners and linen napkins soon. That drunk girl getting arrested was the real Reese spoiled, entitled and bitchy as hell.
I am so damn sick of these lifestyle…oops, my eyes just rolled out of my head
Greasy Reesey! Lmao!
Why are we assuming that these ladies’ acting careers have dried up and that’s why they are starting a lifestyle brand? Maybe they are tired of acting or just want to do something different like producing or starting a lifestyle brand.
“Would Gwyneth, Jessica Alba, Blake and Reese be branding themselves into lifestyle mavens if they were actually in-demand as actresses?”
I’m not sure it’s so much a lack of roles (Gwyneth seems to work steadily), as the decline of actor salaries. Talent salaries started declining about 2005, then tanked completely in 2008 (along with everything else). I know they still make millions, but on a relative scale, they aren’t making nearly as much. The days of the twenty million dollar paycheck are gone. Nowadays, the only way to make that kind of money is to sign onto a tentpole franchise and negotiate a sweetheart deal like Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson (highest paid Avenger after RDJ), but even those deals are risky because the up-front salary is comparatively quite small and there’s no guarantee the movie will be successful enough that you end up with a Brinks truck’s worth of box office back-end.
The middle ground of film is nearly gone. Ten years ago, you could make a very lucrative living making mid-budget movies, like rom-coms, which is where Reese Witherspoon made her fortune. But today the majority of films are either mega-budget tentpoles or micro-budget indies where no one makes any money at all. The rise of the celebrity lifestyle stuff coincides exactly with the collapse of the mid-market film industry. I don’t think they’re turning to it because they can’t get work, I think it has to do with making up the loss of that middle ground.
Brilliant analysis. Makes so much sense.
Great post Algernon. I learned something. Thanks for that. The GOOP site has always seemed like a straight up business venture – a way to monetize Paltrow’s celebrity status in the absence of paying acting roles.
Remember when she showed her butt? Yeah, classy.
Reese always looks like a little girl playing grown up.
That top pic of Reese should be used as a photo to describe what a wannabe hipster looks like! Lol
How original! She’s going to repost a bunch of crap from Pinterest.
“Lifestyle Branding” is a fake job. Whatever.
I loved her in Freeway, Election, and Walk the Line. The rest of her roles have been dreck.