Reese Witherspoon on turning impostor syndrome into confidence

Worklife with Adam Grant

TED

Management, Worklife Podcast, Worklife With Adam Grant, Work Life Balance, Ted Talks, Podcast About Work Life, Ted Adam Grant, Adam Grant Podcasts, Ted Podcasts, Adam Grant, Organizational Psychologist, Business

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2022

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Reese Witherspoon was in rehearsals for her lead role in the 2005 film Walk the Line, she wanted to quit–every day. But she went on to win the Oscar for her performance as June Carter Cash. Since then, she’s gone from playing iconic roles in films (Legally Blonde, Election, Water for Elephants) to also producing and starring in her own TV shows and movies (Little Fires Everywhere, Big Little Lies, Wild). Reese talks to Adam about how she's built confidence by facing her doubts head on, and shares why acknowledging what she doesn’t know has helped her found a company–which was recently acquired for $900 million–that finally puts women at the center of their stories. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAG7

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks to Work Human for sponsoring this episode.
0:08.0	Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick.
0:14.0	I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
0:21.0	My guest today is Reese Witherspoon.
0:24.0	The Oscar and Emmy-winning actor best known for her iconic roles in legally blonde, walk the line, election, pleasantville, and wild.
0:32.0	Reese is also a wildly successful producer and entrepreneur. Her company Hello Sunshine has adapted a number of books into hit shows from the morning show to Little Fire's Everywhere.
0:42.0	It was acquired in 2021 for $900 million.
0:47.0	You're about to get a sense of what goes on in her head that makes her a star on and off camera.
0:56.0	Hi!
0:57.0	Hey Reese.
0:58.0	Hi Adam.
0:59.0	So I have tons of questions for you, but I think the place I have to start is I have a hard time calling you Reese, because when I see you, I think of Tracy Flick and Ella Woods.
1:13.0	And June Carter and Cheryl Strayed and all these iconic fictional and real characters you've played.
1:19.0	Oh.
1:20.0	And I think what that speaks to for me is how deep you go into your characters.
1:24.0	I feel like you've become these people, and I feel like Ella Woods and Tracy Flick are real people.
1:29.0	I kind of feel like I know them.
1:31.0	That's so cool to hear.
1:33.0	I think the real people too, I get very invested.
1:36.0	So I would love to hear about how you get into these characters.
1:40.0	What do you do to begin getting to know the ones who never existed?
1:44.0	And also the ones who did?
	...

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