"It wasn't a particularly great experience": Reese Witherspoon on being forced to do an explicit scene with Mark Wahlberg

Actress Reese Witherspoon has been in the acting industry long enough to know the intricate details and challenges that are thrown at young actors. She was interviewed by Harper's Bazaar, which was published on July 12, 2023, and had Reese making a pretty shocking confession about the industry. She spoke about how she was forced to act in a scene despite not wanting to.

In the interview, the Wild star spoke about how she "didn't have control over" an explicit scene she had filmed with Mark Wahlberg in the 1996 movie Fear. Witherspoon spoke about how she felt at that moment and how filming the scene made her feel.

“It wasn’t a particularly great experience," the actress said.

The actress said that the scene made her quite uncomfortable (Image via IMDb)

Witherspoon also went on to state how the scene wasn't scripted beforehand and that she didn't have the option to turn down the role when she went through the script. She said that the scene was a spontaneous decision by the director and that it was non-negotiable.

"It wasn’t explicit in the script that that’s what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said, 'No'," the actress stated.

As per Reese Witherspoon's revelation, her refusal wasn't entertained by the director and she had to go through it even though she was uncomfortable about it.

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Reese Witherspoon also spoke about how the incident impacted her

As a newcomer to Hollywood at the time, Reese Witherspoon said in the interview that the experience was "formative," although not traumatic. It is worth noting that the actress was only 19 years old at the time and as a newcomer, her preferences weren't given too much of a priority.

While the experience wasn't a traumatizing one, it did teach Reese the need to make women feel safe in such spaces at a young age.

“I’m certainly not traumatized or anything by it, but it was formative." said the actress (Image via Rotten Tomatoes)

The Legally Blonde actress expressed her discomfort and reluctance in performing explicit s*x scenes for the movie. She remembers requesting the director for a body double for scenes below her waist for the s*x scenes but never getting one.

She noted that the entire episode made her feel like she had no control over the process. The actress went on to say that the experience allowed her to recognize the undercurrents of misogyny and s*xism in the film industry.

Reese Witherspoon added that it helped her understand her place in the "pecking order of filmmaking." She noted that it was one of the things that made her want to be an agent for change as someone in a "better leadership position" to tell stories from the female perspective and not the male gaze.

The actress was only 19 when she appreared in Fear. (Image via IMDb)

For the actress, her role in the movie became a learning curve and a lesson. Reese Witherspoon saw the loopholes in Hollywood. Through her own production company Hello Sunshine, she vowed to offer a more positive, inspiring, realistic, and empowering representation of women.

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Reese Witherspoon believes the world is looking for "a little brightness"

Reese Witherspoon believes that the cinematic world needs to bring more cheer and brightness into the world. While she does occasionally enjoy true-crime series, Witherspoon, for the most part, prefers a more positive outlook on life.

"I think about what I want to see on a Friday night, and while I can appreciate a true-crime show or a podcast, I really need some levity. I think the world is looking for a little brightness," she noted.

Reese Witherspoon is one of the executive producers of Daisy Jones and The Six (Image via Getty)

It is Reese Witherspoon's aim to think of opportunities to make optimistic movies and television series that are "joyful, optimistic, and funny". She also said that the human capacity to handle heartbreak has diminished and that the world needs more cheer. Reese noted that there was no better way to offer that to the viewers than creating shows that are simply funny.

Reese Witherspoon is to be one of the executive producers of the mini-series Daisy Jones and the Six, which has been nominated for nine Emmys including Outstanding Limited Series.

She also recently appeared in the romantic comedy Your Place or Mine with Ashton Kutcher. While the film is available to stream on Netflix, the mini-series is available to be streamed on Amazon Prime.