Reese Witherspoon Excited For Her Oscar Nomination For Wild

Reese Witherspoon received an Oscar nomination at the 87th Academy Awards for her performance in Wild. The film, which was shot in Oregon, chronicles a woman’s 1,000-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail. The film is based on Cheryl Strayed’s best-selling novel of the same name, in which Strayed deals with her mother’s death and a ruined marriage by setting out on the hike. Witherspoon could win her second Oscar with this role.

Witherspoon’s competition will be Marion Cotillard for the French-language “Two Days, One Night,” who was the surprise nominee for best actress; Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”); Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”); and Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl”). That left Jennifer Aniston’s pained and grieving performance in “Cake” on the outside. Laura Dern, who played Witherspoon’s mother in “Wild,” also received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Witherspoon spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her nomination. Here are some highlights:

On how she will celebrate

“Well, probably with Laura Dern. She and I are so excited for our film. It’s just great. She and I are standing in front of really a hundred of people who helped this movie happen, and worked their butts off on it, and all that hard work paid off. It’s really wonderful to be recognized.”

On where she would place this second Oscar

[Laughs] “Um, no. I wouldn’t even dare to think about it. I’m really excited—this whole group of women is giving tremendous performances. I started a company two years ago to just create more interesting, dynamic roles for women onscreen, and we have not just myself and Laura, but now Rosamund Pike as well.”

On a great year

“It’s been wonderful. All I ever set out to do was create interesting roles—not good girls, not bad girls, just complex women in lead roles. To have these three performances recognized, and more importantly, have audiences go see these movies—we just [hit] $31 million for Wild. Obviously Gone Girl is off the charts in box office. It just shows you there’s a huge audience for films with complex female roles. Hopefully this will keep the motor going. Audiences are sending a message to these studios, that this is what they want to see.”

On surprise nominations

“I’m really excited for Wes Anderson and Grand Budapest Hotel. I think that’s such an artistic achievement. I was really blown away when I saw the film last March, and for a film to keep the momentum up that long. It really is a very technical achievement, but it’s some of Ralph Fienne’ss best work, I think. Whiplash is another movie I loved. That director, the way he made a tiny space and moved the camera so well. I saw the editor got nominated, which is so exciting. It’s great the Academy is recognizing films that are inventive and fresh, and people are putting their whole creative selves out there.”

Are you excited for Witherspoon’s nomination? What did you think about the movie?

[Photo Credit: Source]

Reese Witherspoon Excited For Her Oscar Nomination For Wild