Reese Witherspoon Wonders If the Era of the A-List Actor or Actress Is Over
“Are there opportunities for people to really emerge as a star?”
Is the era of the A-list movie star a relic of the past? Maybe, according to Reese Witherspoon, who spoke at an event for her Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, which she stars in alongside Jennifer Aniston. Witherspoon said, per The Hollywood Reporter, that she wasn’t sure that careers like her’s and Aniston’s were possible anymore thanks to streaming, the outlet reported.
Witherspoon wondered if it was even possible to have a career like hers or Jennifer Aniston's anymore with the landscape as it is in Hollywood.
Asked by interviewer Kara Swisher about this particular time in tech and media—roughly six months after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike—Witherspoon said that the streaming landscape has changed in recent months.
“Streaming was, like, the biggest thing for three to four years, and there was a never-ending constant smash for content, and, like, literally, we could sell anything,” said Witherspoon, who, in addition to acting, also frequently executive produces content. “What I’m seeing right now, I think from the buying and selling landscape side of it, is that probably part of the strike was a reset for these studios that are not profitable—the streaming services—and an opportunity for them to resize, rework, and cut costs. So we’re going to probably see less stuff, which is probably good, right? It was just chaos. It was a flea market. We can slow down a little bit. But there’s going to be more intention around it, and it’s going to be a little bit harder.”
In addition to her work as an actress, Witherspoon is also a frequent executive producer.
Witherspoon said she wonders and worries what the future will be like for actors in Hollywood, pointing to her co-star Aniston beside her and asking “Are careers like ours possible ever again? Are there opportunities for people to really emerge as a star? How do you know with no data transparency? How do we even know if something did well or didn’t do well?”
Aniston and Witherspoon at the Critics' Choice Awards in January
"The Morning Show" co-stars, seen here speaking on a panel in January 2020, both began their careers in the 1990s.
Witherspoon added that Netflix is “pretty transparent about it” and reveals some figures, but “the other people don’t. And it’s tough as an actor—how do you negotiate? How does a producer? How do you market? If you don’t know where you sit in a landscape, how do you value something?” She added “There’s real amounts of data, too, and they’ve got a lock on it. They don’t want you to have the advantage, and it’s tough.”
Aniston shared her own thoughts on working in Hollywood today: “We did start in this industry in a time when it was so glamorous and so fun, and [you would] just go on auditions and auditions and just hope that you get it,” she said. “And if you did get that Movie of the Week and then hope you get that little guest star on Quantum Leap. When it was so simple, and now it is becoming so…it’s too much sometimes.”
Aniston was also at the event alongside co-star Witherspoon; while there, it was confirmed that season four will return after the November election.
Aniston characterized Hollywood today as "too much sometimes."
As for when we can expect season four of The Morning Show, at the event it was noted that it wouldn’t be until sometime after the presidential election in November, showrunner Charlotte Stoudt said.
