Jennifer Garner praises Reese Witherspoon’s impact on women in Hollywood

With her production company Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon has become a major player behind the scenes in Hollywood as well as in front of the camera. After the banner was acquired by Candle Media for $900 million in 2021, there’s no sign of slowing down. Fresh from the releases of Daisy Jones & The Six and Tiny Beautiful Things, Hello Sunshine is launching yet another buzzy streaming series with The Last Thing He Told Me on Apple TV+.

Based on the book by Laura Dave, The Last Thing He Told Me follows a woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband suddenly disappears and must team up with her stepdaughter to uncover his secrets. Star Jennifer Garner, who pursued the role after Julia Roberts’ departure, credits Witherspoon with changing the state of women’s stories in Hollywood and inspiring her to get into her own producing work.

“Honestly, Reese is behind that, she has really pushed me. She said to me a few years ago, ‘Nobody is sitting around thinking, what can I shoot in L.A. that’s going to have a 50-year-old woman in it?’ She’s like, ‘You’ve got to create your own stuff,’” Garner says in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “All women in this town owe a debt of gratitude to Reese.”

Hello Sunshine’s previous efforts include Big Little Lies, Where The Crawdads Sing, Your Place Or Mine, Truth Be Told, Little Fires Everywhere, From Scratch, Surface, and Something From Tiffany’s. Many of the projects, including all episodes of The Last Thing He Told Me, are also directed by women.

“We were all very vision-aligned from the very beginning about what we wanted to create as a brand — creating a narrative for women, where they could tell their story in their own words,” Witherspoon described in a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Garner also recently appeared in the third season of Party Down. The first three episodes of The Last Thing He Told Me are now streaming on Apple TV+.