Reese Witherspoon covers the latest issue of Harper’s Bazaar to promote a variety of projects. In fact, that’s a huge chunk of the cover story: Reese is busy, she’s got so much stuff happening and so much to do. I appreciate Reese and what she’s doing as a producer, but I’m always left feeling like what she gives us in these interviews is very far from the full picture. I mean, news at seven, an actor has carefully constructed public persona, but in Reese’s case, I do wonder if she’s an entirely different person when the cameras aren’t on her. Anyway, this is Reese’s first big magazine interview since her second marriage collapsed – she and Jim Toth announced their split in March, just months after Reese sold her production company for $900 million. Yeah. Some highlights from Harper’s Bazaar:

She’s very busy: “Gosh, I know. I get really excited about work, so I get tons of nervous energy. I’m kind of a high-strung person.” Witherspoon admits that she has slowed down “just a little bit.” “My brain has been going nonstop, and just life changes and running a company. But that’s okay. I really believe creativity is infinite and you’re just looking for that next bit of inspiration, so if you go through a little slow period, that’s okay.”

How she’s handling her divorce: She is taking time to “get quiet,” she says. She’s painting. “It’s interesting what happened to me. When I was divorced before, the tabloid media got to tell people how I was feeling or how I was processing, and it felt very out of control. To be able to talk to people directly about what’s going on in my life and just share it in the way that I share great professional experiences or personal experiences, it feels much more authentic to be able to say things in my own voice and not let somebody else control what’s happening. Then, of course, there’s speculation, but I can’t control that. All I can do is be my most honest, forthright self and be vulnerable. It’s a vulnerable time for me.”

She owns her divorce. “I think about how many other people are going through this experience. I don’t feel isolated at all. I feel very connected.”

The world is overwhelmed by sadness: “I think the human capacity to handle as much heartbreak and tragedy that’s happened in the world is really diminished. We’re just not meant to feel this overwhelmed by sadness and devastation. I think of opportunities to make movies and television shows that are joyful, optimistic, funny—just funny. 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 didn’t feel the sisterhood in her 20s: She was “very competitive and jealous of other women and not supportive.” “I was really unhappy. I was not seeing the abundance of opportunity.” Witherspoon says she “went hard” for roles in a couple of projects that she ultimately didn’t get. Clueless was one. Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet was another. “Oh my God, I wanted to do Romeo + Juliet so badly, so badly. Of course, Claire Danes was amazing, but it was devastating to me that I didn’t get it after screen tests and getting really close.”

On Time’s Up withering away & dying: “[It] was an incredible moment in time. I don’t know if it was ever meant to be forever. I don’t consider myself a career activist. I’m an artist, I’m an entrepreneur, so I don’t really know about the machinations of creating long-standing organizations. I just know that that moment when I was sitting in rooms of women sharing their experiences was really powerful … and we raised a lot of money.” The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which was the recipient of most of the fundraising ($22 million was raised that first year), still exists to help individuals who have experienced sexual harassment with legal fees.

The Liberation 40s: “I think you start to realize there’s a finite amount of time that you have to accomplish what you want to accomplish in this world and that worrying about other people’s opinions of you is a waste of your precious time. It’s a liberation in your 40s to feel free of other people’s opinions. I mean, they’re always there. They just don’t matter as much to you, and it’s a great feeling.”

[From Harper’s Bazaar]

I like that she talks about the time when everything wasn’t so rah-rah-sisterhood, when she felt like she was always in competition with her female peers, and she was jealous of their accomplishments. It’s a very natural thing, and it was also a thing being done to her – that’s what Hollywood men want, they want young women to feel competitive and jealous, like there are finite roles for women and may the best blonde win. As for what she says about her divorce… the second one is probably easier, and I’m not saying that in a shady way. Her first divorce was splashed over the tabloids and there were young kids involved and reports of infidelity. This one has been a lot calmer and more “managed.” She has the money and power to insulate herself too.

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Cover & IG courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar.