Hulu’s production ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ starts March 18 with Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington scorching the small screen
Little Fires Everywhere — “The Spark” Episode 101 — Mia (Kerry Washington) & Elena (Reese Witherspoon). (Photo by: Erin Simkin/Hulu)
The new eight-episode limited Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere is a great achievement for the two hot women in Hollywood– Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Wild) and Kerry Washington (Scandal). Both are stars and executive producers on the series. And when Reese finalized the deal in 2018 she tweeted—“I’m so excited to tell you that Kerry Washington and I will be bringing Little Fires Everywhere to the screen together. I love this beautiful book about motherhood, and I can’t wait to finally collaborate with one of my favorite actresses.”
Months later the gal-pals Witherspoon and Washington filmed the drama based on the book by Celeste Ng (who also serves as an executive producer). Ng’s novel was at the top of the NY Times Bestseller List for almost a year.
Both Witherspoon and Washington were at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter 2020 press tour to talk about their production, along with the drama’s creator-showrunner Liz Tigelaar.
Reese Witherspoon & Kerry Washington promote their Hulu series during the Television Critics Association’s January tour. (Photo: Hulu, Stringer/Getty Images for Hulu)
Little Fires Everywhere follows the intertwined fates of two families—the seemingly perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic transient mother and daughter who upend their lives. The story explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
The show starts with a house burning to the ground, and a surprising story unfolds from there as Elena (Witherspoon) and Mia (Washington) are combustible as suburban mothers from very different worlds who must face some ugly truths.
At one point in the drama Witherspoon’s Elena character says, “A good mother makes good choices.” Washington’s Mia fires back, “You didn’t make good choices. You had good choices.” That line completely embodies the theme of the series, and it sparked this reporter to ask Reese about her good choices with her roles and producing projects.
At the TCA, the Oscar (Best Actress for Walk the Line) and Emmy winner (as producer for Big Little Lies), who turns 44 on March 22, told me, “It’s interesting you ask that. Choices used to be made for me a lot. So I made a conscious decision about eight years ago to start my own (production) company, because I wasn’t happy with the choices that were being made for me. And I didn’t see a place to exist within the industry that we had. There just wasn’t a spectrum of storytelling for women that I felt was representative of the world that we walk through, and that our daughters are seeing on film and television.”
Reese added, “With the confluence of deciding to start a company and the emergence of streaming, I guess I was psychic or something. I had no idea the whole world would open up for us, but it has changed my life. The ability to work with different kinds of storytellers, to be able to option books and partner with other people I respect and admire, who also have a perspective that is not my own but is just as valuable, has changed my entire experience.”
Kerry Washington Reese Witherspoon (photo credit Erin Simkin/Hulu)
Witherspoon is proud that she primarily generates everything that she does. In the entertainment industry she is now in a leadership position, which she noted wasn’t possible eight years ago. “Every woman that I’ve been working with in the past three years — whether it’s Nicole Kidman (in Big Little Lies for HBO) or it’s Jennifer Aniston (in The Morning Show on Apple TV+) — we all remark about how things have changed and that we are put in a position of respect for our ideas. That is a new world for us with equal responsibility and leadership.”
Little Fires Everywhere starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington premieres March 18, streaming on Hulu. Tune in.
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