Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon Talk Women, Money, and Smells
LatestIn an interview with the LA Times, Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon had plenty to say about everything but Hot Pursuit, the movie I will be seeing this weekend regardless of how terribly it’s reviewed. After a little fluff regarding Witherspoon’s fluency in Spanish, the conversation—which also included Anne Fletcher, the film’s director—evolved into a discussion about women in Hollywood, the lack of Latin American “creators,” and the importance of social media.
On watching Reese struggle with her Spanish lines:
VERGARA: When I hear her speak Spanish I realize why I’m funny to Americans. It was one of the great scenes for me because I would see how she was struggling and suffering. It’s hard to really be acting when you’re translating. The emotion can’t come. So I enjoyed this because she was feeling what I feel every day.
On Latin American actors:
VERGARA: Mainly the problem is there aren’t Latin people creating content. Many of them are doing soap operas. It is a lack of Latin people writing. It’s not the fault I think of an American writer. Usually when you write, you write what you know about. I admire the people who write for Gloria in “Modern Family.” They’re mostly men. Mostly they’ve had wives like Julie Bowen’s character, but they’ve never had a Latin woman.
On not being a mummy:
FLETCHER: [I don’t have kids because] I transitioned into directing, and it was one movie after another after another and … you’re so focused on work that you forget about the personal life. You’ve got the drive, and you’re going, going. And then you go, “Oooh, I didn’t have that part of my life.”
VERGARA: It’s not like you’re a mummy.
LA TIMES: A mommy?
VERGARA: Like Tutankhamen. A mummy. You still have time to do all of that.
On the lack of women in Hollywood:
WITHERSPOON: I think at the fundamental beginning level we’re not nurturing female directors and writers at the same level that we should be.
On not drinking the pickle juice:
WITHERSPOON: We don’t raise our hands ‘cause culturally we see that as bossy.
On Sofia being a social media mentor:
VERGARA: I do it myself. You have to keep it real ‘cause people are not dumb. I’ve been tweeting since 2010.
WITHERSPOON: It’s an incredible marketing tool. It’s a way to have direct communication with your audience. … She kind of showed me the power of it.
VERGARA: I taught her everything she knows.
On being asked about more than who she’s wearing:
WITHERSPOON: Some of these experiences that I have where we sit around a roundtable with these experienced, accomplished actresses and the things I’m thinking are, “I wonder what happened when you did that movie or what was that director like” and they’ll literally ask us, “What did you think of Jennifer Lawrence’s nude selfies?” I’m like, “I don’t know Jennifer Lawrence. I have no perspective on that.”
On $$$:
WITHERSPOON: We as women don’t communicate about how we’re doing financially…We need to be more candid about those conversations.
VERGARA: At the end of the day, women buy more products than men. We are really who spends the money in the house.
WITHERSPOON: My daughter came home one day crying and said, “Mommy, somebody told me you made a lot of money …” and I was like, “Why are you crying? … I worked hard for that. You should never feel embarrassed about a woman doing well in this world.”
On what the restaurant smelled like:
VERGARA: [sniffing the air in the restaurant]: It smells like truffles.
FLETCHER: It does.
Image via screengrab.
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