Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Armchair Expert early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dax Shepard and I'm joined by Monica Padman. Hi. We are keeping the... powerful gal train a chugging. It's so cool. What a fall we've had.
It's true. We're going to throw Bree in there, too. Oh, great. Yes. Reese Witherspoon. I'm not going to say my German pronunciation. You'll have to listen to the fact check for that. Reese is an award-winning actor, producer, and author. Legally Blonde, The Morning Show, Big Little Lies, Cruel Intentions, my favorite movie ever, Election, Sweet Home Alabama.
She's got a novel out right now that she co-wrote. This girl can't stop. Gone before goodbye. And yes, she teamed up with bestselling author Harlan Coben, who, as we discussed in here, has got like 57 shows on Netflix. He's like the most prolific person ever. And the very fun part about the audio book is that she reads it. And of course, she brings all of her talent to bear on it.
And it's wonderful. I recommend it. Please enjoy Reese Witherspoon. This episode of Armchair Expert is presented by Apple Pay. You know, holiday shopping can be a hassle, but Apple Pay makes it so much easier. Whether you're shopping online or in store, look for the Apple Pay button or contactless symbol at checkout. No more digging for your wallet or filling out long online checkout forms.
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Chapter 2: How did Reese Witherspoon's childhood impact her career?
Terms apply. He's an archer expert. Hi. How are you? Oh, yeah. Let's hug. Let's do it. Good to see you. I feel like I have done this podcast, but I haven't. You haven't. You have not. We would remember. I did something with you and Kristen. That's right. You did. But that wasn't this? That wasn't this. That was called Shattered Glass. That was on Zoom. That was a Hooray Women podcast.
Hooray Women. This is a Hooray Men podcast. Yeah, exactly. We celebrate all the achievements of men historically. We love men. I am raising two of them. Yeah. I know. I want to talk about that. That's so sweet. Will you flash your watch at me for one second? Are you a watch guy? I love that watch. It's really handsome. It's got a good story. It does? What's the story? Ooh, let's hear it.
Chapter 3: What challenges did Reese face in her early acting career?
Oh, I think I want to tell the story. We can always cut it after the fact. It was like somebody didn't want to pay me. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was like, there's this really cool watch I want. And it's so dumb because what they should have paid me. Sure, sure, sure, sure. But I was like. I love this a lot. Yes. And I would never buy this for myself. That's a great story.
And that's more fun than the amount of money maybe you should have got that would be sitting in a bank account at some point. So in a weird way, it is more valuable. You know. No, you're not. Accumulated interest, net present value. Compounded. Cash. Dax bought me a car. Not that exact situation. But similar. Similar. I'd offered her a bonus and she turned it down.
Well, there was some interpersonal issues. Sure, sure, sure. I did not probably phrase any of it all correctly, but then she's like, no, I don't fucking want this bonus. And I was like, oh, fuck. And then I was like, well, if I just drop a car off, what's she going to do? She's not going to go through the pain in the ass of returning the thing. That's true. And I didn't. It's still my car.
It's a great car. Somehow I did that correctly. You're a car guy though, right? You love cars. I am a car guy. Well, you went to our house. I figured that out when I saw your station wagon. I was like, that... Were you horny? Be honest. Absolutely not. It didn't do anything for you. Closed. The shop. It only makes dudes horny, unfortunately. That station wagon with the wood paneling.
Yes, because it has a 700 horsepower engine in it. If you were hearing it run, you'd be like, what is that? I will give it to you that a lot of men who come through this attic and garage have commented on the cars, have commented on Dax's muscular body. Which, again, women don't like, but men like. There's all these things I do, and I'm not sure why, because only men like it. That's not true.
That's not true. I think it's mostly true. What are you eating? Nicotine mint, and then I have a spray as well. Were you ever a nicotine person? Nope. I tried really hard to smoke and it was just a big fail. Why? What went wrong? They're pretty easy to operate. No, I couldn't breathe it in. I couldn't inhale. I was just a ding dong. Oh my God, why are you the cutest human?
Hand it to her on camera, please. I want the world to know and I want her to unwrap it. People wouldn't start. You're the most popular guest always. This is amazing. What is this? It's sourdough. Please unwrap it and smell it because it smells so good. I mean, I can smell it. I want it through there. Wow. I'll see you at the other place. Okay. Thanks for the breath. Pass me. Call me. Sourdough.
This is a real Taylor Swift move she just did for providing sourdough. She's no dummy. She's no dummy. They call her the Taylor Swift of the acting world. I know. I just floated back. I'm so loved. She is loved. And she's just so talented. I know. The voice. I know.
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Chapter 4: How does Reese Witherspoon view the decline of rom-coms?
The voice. She can do it all. It's maddening. Is it maddening? It is. When you live with someone who's dramatically better at everything than you, it can be maddening. But you have your own skills. I can lift things. Let's not diminish that. I can lift heavier things. No, you're hysterically funny. You're an amazing writer. You're great on camera. Oh my God. Difficult people look great.
Oh, thank you. Wow, that's really nice. You can make an introvert talk about their lives. That's good. Okay, good, good, good. Nice compliment. I'll take it. And you're good with research. I was like, oh God, what are they going to dig up? He is very good with research. But you should know where this starts. Hold on. Am I supposed to smell the bread? Yeah, let's smell it. Let's take a look at it.
And look at the top. This thing turned out. Oh, it's pretty. Oh my God. It's like a big thing of butter and some flaky salt. And a radish. A radish. A radish. Nowhere out on the radish. The little like tomato and matzo. I'm excited. If she and I were ever friends and had to spend time together, we just have a crafternoon. We just craft it. Oh, she would love that.
What's your favorite kind of crafting? You're almost finding it irresistible to not make a sweater out of that little yarn right there. I'm going to make a little flower. I do pay by numbers. I do watercolor. I do picture frame making. I do chocolate bonbon making. Like when you stuff a little chocolate. You like make a shell, you create a ganache, then you cap it, then you decorate it.
I love that. It's a process. You could get into jam. I could. People are really into jam. Not with the soccer schedule I just learned about. You're not going to do a damn thing other than travel for soccer. I want to have a lake house. I want to be that Americana lake house person. And my kids' travel soccer schedule is real intense. Now, I don't want to be a dick, Reese.
But is there any party when you see that? Because you just told me it's like a 32-week schedule. Parents are going to relate. Oh, yeah. And that's too much. There's collective outrage. Yeah. Why is it like that? That's 65% of the year, which is too much to be doing anything for starters. Is there any part of you that's like, are we going to try to go professional?
Because if not, this seems really excessive. I understand what you're saying. I see where you're going. Does my kid have an opportunity to be like D1 in college? There we go. D3. D3. Fuck it, deep sex. Any way in. No clue, but let me tell you how smart my kid is. His EQ is off the charts. He goes, you know, mom, how old were you when you did your first movie? He did his research. 14.
It's like, I'm 13. Soccer is acting for me. Did your mom take you to acting classes? I was like, yes. He was like, how many? I was like, two or three a week. Oh, okay. And I was like, that's your dream, buddy. I get it. But then did you show him your net worth and you were like, is soccer going to get you this? Did you do that? You know what? Cristiano Ronaldo is doing a lot better than me.
I'm just letting you know. I just read today that he's got a billion dollars. This morning I read it. He's doing better than me. Okay. All right. That's fair. He had the moral high ground on this debate. I'm going to start with how excited I am that you're here. Genuinely. Do you know, I was on a 7 a.m. flight this morning. to Nashville, which is now my spiritual headquarters.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of private surgeries in the context of this discussion?
The world of private surgery is actually really happening. It's very real. Businessmen in China will pay. It actually started, I was reading a Reese's Club book and in it was a Chinese businessman paying his way to the top of the donor list at UCSF. Ah. And I was like, does this happen? And I asked the author, she's like, that happens.
Do people get transplants of organs in other countries and you don't know where the organ came from? 100. Of course. So that's part of it. And then part of what was really fun too is I got to research longevity clinics in Dubai. Ooh. Oh, in Dubai. So I talked to some people who go there once a year and there's the blood oxygen stuff.
So I imagined a world where one of those longevity clinics kind of grafted with a Doctors Without Borders and some unethical stuff started happening with refugees that were treating. You start to see it and it gets very complex. Wow. And my character starts to uncover some really sinister stuff. And you're also embroiled in this crazy opulent world. Extreme wealth where the rules are off.
This sounds so intense and so specific. It was so fun, Monica. How fun. But like you had to, I'm sure, do so much research to understand this world. Yeah. I've talked to a couple of tattoo artists. They too find themselves in these crazy situations, these famous ones. Like, oh, I tattooed this chic in a 747, just the two of us flying to wherever. Crazy kind of situations like that.
Did you talk to anyone who had an insane, like, I did a facelift on a helicopter? Yes, on a military plane on someone who did not want his enemies to know he was under anesthesia. Oh, wow. Crazy stuff. Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's an interesting biker thing, too. Her father-in-law is a biker and he comes in and his network of people across Europe comes.
And that's a really important part of the third act. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of like a movie. Big time. It's really fun. And what's most fun about it, I listened to it. Oh, cool.
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Chapter 6: How does the topic shift to longevity clinics and ethical dilemmas?
And you and Chris Pine, who I didn't even know you guys were friends. It makes sense. You did that movie together. I thought I didn't like him. I thought I didn't like him. He's a little shyer. I also worked with him. I was really friendly to him. And then I saw him in a bathroom. I was just like, yeah, that doesn't like me. I don't know if I like him. Were you being sensitive?
Were you being sensey pants? I'm very sensitive. Yeah. I'll be the first to make up a story. Do you want people to come to you or would you prefer you go to them? I'm happy with either. I was very engaging with him. And he was, by my assessment, he wasn't interested. That's fine. Frax needs a lot of approval. So if he's not getting it back, something's, you know, triggered.
Then I go straight into like, I'll start writing a story. He doesn't like me. Okay, so he hates me. Why does he hate me? I started trying to figure out like, were we ever? Did I ever? There's so many assumptions. Where's the four agreements? Is it on this show? Oh, my friend was just telling me about it. Please. All to say we interviewed him and I completely fell in love with him.
And then we went to the motorcycle track together. Oh, you did? Yeah, he's a great guy. I adore him like crazy. Oh, good. A lot of my favorite people are people I thought. I love that. Look at you being open-minded to challenge your own assumptions. That's the least I can do because I make so many. But you guys read the book. Yes. He plays my husband. He's so good. Ooh. It's so good.
I mean, I don't want to bag on other. I listened to a ton of books on tape throughout the year. We don't really ever get A-list actors doing it. It's a significant bump in the experience. Oh, yeah.
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Chapter 7: What experiences does Reese Witherspoon share about her friendships and personal connections?
Of course. Thank you for saying that. Yes. It's like listening to like a great radio show from the 30s. Well, we have performers now doing this. Yes. I'm sure you want people to buy the book and read it old fashioned, but I'm going to really recommend do this book on audio. It's so fun. I am so happy if anybody consumes it in any possible way. Graphic novel. Are you so proud of yourself?
Writing a book is a huge deal. Thank you. I am really proud of myself because I was scared out of my mind. Yes, it's scary. And I did it anyway. And I was like, I'm friends with so many authors and this is going to be so awkward. They're all been so lovely. And even if they hate it, I say, tell me you love it because I can't handle it. That's great. Yeah. Just tell me you love it.
But we had Jennifer Aniston on and we asked her. Was that this year? Like two weeks ago. It was two weeks ago. And then we asked her how you two were different. And then we said, we're going to ask you. I want to see how these compare. Oh my God. I'm like, what did Jen say about me? She said lovely stuff. We've known each other so long and we are very different people.
But opposites attracted, you know. That adventure is a natural event. She's really warm and welcoming. She's like a big host. Come over. She's very warm and friendly. I think I'm more nerdy. She said you're Tracy Flick-like. Pfft! I'll just cut to the chase. She said you're studious. You're a straight-A student. I'm a straight-A student. If there's a challenge, I'll take it.
But hopefully I'm not so rigid. I used to be really rigid. I think my edges softened. Life does that to you. But Jen, I will say I've known Jen 25 years, 26 years. You had a little baby in your dressing room. I did. Yeah. She's always been really lovely and nurturing and warm and friendly and kind and has been through her own stuff. Oh, yeah. And also has reason to be a little guarded. Yes.
I've cried in one of our interviews because I was like, I just think people are so unfair sometimes that they think they know her and make assumptions.
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Chapter 8: How do the four agreements influence personal growth and relationships?
Well, they want her to play a certain character they've designed and any deviation from that cannot be computed. She's not who people think she is. She's not holding on to old things. Right. She's not pining for Brad Pitt. She's doing great.
By the way, at her 50th birthday, one of the biggest testaments I can say to what a wonderful person she is, people from her teenage years, people from her 20s, people who work in her home, every ex-husband, ex-boyfriend was there. She just is like a high spiritual integrity person. She's not a burner of bridges. Correct. Are you a burner of bridges? No.
I have really good, clear pathways with people. It wasn't always like that because I didn't have the words in my rigidity and I'm softened. I've had a lot of shit happen to me. Do you think you suffered the most or people around you suffered the most when you were really strangleholding things? I don't know. Probably me. But I never held grudges. I'm just not that person.
What I said to her and I'll say to you, the cool thing about The Morning Show to me is there's been a lot of different ways in which you and her have moved forward the possibilities for ladies. But one that still seemed to be not being addressed was an example I gave when we talked to her was
Somehow everyone's like, yeah, we can figure out how to get Brad Pitt, Clooney and Matt Damon in Ocean's Eleven. I mean, they're all going to get a fortune. But there was this kind of paradigm where it's like there's one leading gal and there's only room for her and her paycheck. And it's going to kill us to even give her what she's worth. There's no way we're giving in a second person.
And I think that was like one of the other remaining doors that needed to be broken. And I think it's pretty rad that you guys use your combined leverage to go like, hmm. no, this is bullshit. And I guess you had started it with Big Little Lies. I was like, no, no, me and Nicole Kidman are going to be in this. Nicole and I decided to do that together. You didn't meet on it.
You had already been friends? No, we knew each other. I must tell you, it was pretty funny from our point of view because you were looking at lake houses. And I brought her with me. And you were like, can we look at your house? And we're like, yeah, yeah, go crazy. We'll get it unlocked. And then the person we had said to unlock is like, yeah, and then Nicole Kidman's over.
And I'm like, oh yeah, it's like it's all going down over there. Who's next? She's my really good friend. And we're neighbors, too. So we toodle and sometimes do errands together. Well, it was very revealing. I'm like, this is so cute. You've driven 40 miles from your house to go look at our house. And somehow Nicole's also going to join you. And it's really telling of what friendship you have.
She and I just like toodle around together. This is what you do in high school. Like, what are you doing? I don't know. I'm going to go look at this thing. Sure, I'll come. No, it's something girls do. Laura Dern comes with us too. Fun. We all end up in the same place like Shailene and Zoe and Dern and I all just had dinner. Okay, good. We just kind of reconnect and our kids join in too.
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