Reese Witherspoon says she ‘wouldn’t say never’ on possibility of running for office

Actress says: ‘I think we need better representation and balance’ in government

Reese Witherspoon has revealed she would consider running for office in the future.

The Legally Blonde actress discussed the possibility of one day becoming a politician during an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, after hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett suggested that she would be a good fit.

In response to Bateman telling the 44-year-old he thinks she’d “get a lot of the vote”, Witherspoon joked: “Yeah, I mean our standards have become very low in this country.”

Despite joking, Witherspoon said she wouldn’t rule out running for office, explaining that she doesn’t know “where I’m going to be” years from now.

“I wouldn't say never, because I don't know where I'm going to be when I'm, you know, 65," she said.

The actress then discussed what changes she would want to see if she became a politician, such as more women and people of colour represented in the government.

"I think we need better representation and balance," she said. "Women are 50 per cent of the population, but we're not 50 per cent of the representation in government, which is bizarre, particularly when they're adjudicating over our bodies.

“And the lack of representation of people of colour, who make up a large, almost majority of this country. What about balance, you know? Just yin and yang. Male, female balance."

Witherspoon also revealed that she believes women “have a different relationship to power”, referencing her production company Hello Sunshine, where she said employees equally share power and responsibility.

"It's interesting how no one needs to be the number one," she said of her company, which primarily employs women. "We sort of pass the baton almost. It's always kind of deferring power or sharing responsibility. So it's almost this power balance and that there's no one person sort of dictating or mandating exactly what's going to happen.

“It's like collective ideas and it works really well."

The Big Little Lies star also discussed female representation on Instagram earlier this month when she shared a photo of herself voting by mail in the upcoming presidential election.

“I did it! Did you? Feels good to exercise my right to VOTE. I like to think that ray of light coming through the trees is ALL of the women who came before me who did not have this fundamental right,” she wrote.