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Living a Normal Life
RD: How do you try to make life normal for your kids?Witherspoon: Ryan and I didn't grow up like this at all, with this much attention. We'll just try to keep their feet on the ground and raise them with the values we were raised with.
RD: What religion were you raised in?
Witherspoon: Episcopalian.
RD: Do you go to church?
Witherspoon: Yes. I take the kids to church and Sunday school. They love it. I really think it's important for a child to feel that there are things that are bigger than your life out there.
RD: I heard you're a big reader. What do you like to read?
Witherspoon: I get crazy in a bookstore. It makes my heart beat hard because I want to buy everything. I love books. I just got the new Sue Monk Kidd book and the new Melissa Bank novel, who did The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing. I love Lorrie Moore. She's my favorite.
RD: When do you find time to read?
Witherspoon: I read while the kids play. I can see them from the kitchen window. And I'm a fast reader.
RD: What do you guys do when you're not working? What do you do for fun?
Witherspoon: I cook a lot, almost every night. I love to cook comfort food. I'll make fish and vegetables or meat and vegetables and potatoes or rice. The ritual of it is fun for me, and the creativity of it. I used to be a terrible cook. For our first date, I made Ryan Hamburger Helper, which is basically what I grew up on. I make my own version of it now, with macaroni and cheese and hamburger meat. And the kids -- it's their favorite dinner.
RD: So when you go home tonight, will you cook dinner?
Witherspoon: Yes. We're having friends over. I do a 15-minute fish in a pan. Five minutes on one side, five minutes on the other side, and then like five minutes in the oven. It's great.
RD: It sounds so unbelievably normal.
Witherspoon: There's this older gentleman who's been in and out of Hollywood for years and years. And he said to me, "You know, Reese, what's extraordinary about you? Your ordinariness." And I think that is a huge compliment.
RD: But at some point you don't live a normal life.
Witherspoon: The thing is, we're not extravagant people. It's just unbelievable the amounts of money we make. But we don't spend it. It's too scary to spend it. In your mind, you always think you're at the same place you were when you grew up. We don't have multiple houses and fancy cars. We each own one car, and we have a reasonable house. It's a lovely place to be, but it's not extravagant.
RD: Do you ever wake up and pinch yourself?
Witherspoon: A lot. I'm always endlessly surprised about the people who come into my life, who I get to collaborate with. I feel really overwhelmed by those opportunities. But it's not like I fell off the turnip truck and suddenly became who I am. I really have worked hard for it, and I have to acknowledge that. I care about what I do, and I have a sense of pride in my work. And you can never be totally settled as an actor or artist or musician. You have to keep the fire under you, because that's what makes you better.
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