Reese Witherspoon ‘didn’t understand what homosexuality was’ until moving to LA

‘I had to learn from somebody I met on an audition in Los Angeles,’ actor says

Reese Witherspoon has said she “didn’t understand what homosexuality was” until she moved to Los Angeles, having not been taught about sexuality during her upbringing.

Witherspoon recently took part in an interview with Watchmen star Regina King, her former Legally Blonde 2 co-star, as part of Variety‘s Actors on Actors series.

During their conversation, which was filmed from each of their respective homes during lockdown, the actors covered several topics, including Witherspoon’s new television show Little Fires Everywhere.

While speaking about the miniseries, which is set in the 1990s, Witherspoon referenced how homosexuality is discussed by her character Elena Richardson.

The 44-year-old drew comparisons between a statement made by her character in the script and the way in which she learnt about homosexuality in the same time period.

The actor said it was a “great experience” to be able to “look at a time that was actually 30 years ago and think: ‘I was a teenager then. What did my mum say about sexuality, race, class? What were the things that I was told that maybe were true or not true? How was I insensitive?’”

“No one spoke to me about sexuality when I was a teenager,” she said. “I didn’t understand what homosexuality was. My grandparents didn’t explain it; my parents didn’t explain it. I had to learn from somebody I met on an audition in Los Angeles.”

Witherspoon added that a line is included in the Little Fires Everywhere script that drew direct inspiration from a conversation she once had with her grandmother.

“We incorporated some of the conversation I had with my grandmother afterward,” she told King.

“She said: ‘Homosexuality is very rare, Reese. That’s not a thing that happens very often.’ And we put it in the script.”

Witherspoon added that her character Elena said that particular line “because that’s what was said to me in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994”.

The Oscar winner was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1976 and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to Los Angeles during the early stages of her career.

King, who talked to Witherspoon about the prospect of returning to her critically-acclaimed television show Watchmen for a second season, recently spoke about teaching her son about racism.

During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the actor said: “I think in most black homes, it’s not just a conversation, it’s an ongoing conversation. It never stops.”

King won an Academy Award in 2019 for her performance in romantic drama If Beale Street Could Talk.