Reese Witherspoon will soon have another trophy to add to her mantel. The Oscar winner is this year’s recipient of the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, The Hollywood Reporter has announced. Witherspoon will accept her honor December 11 at THR’s Women in Entertainment gala.
Named for the first woman to head a Hollywood studio, the Sherry Lansing prize is presented to trailblazers and philanthropists. Previous recipients include Viola Davis, Jennifer Lawrence, and Shonda Rhimes.
“Reese has transformed herself from acclaimed actress to one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers. She is a perfect fit to carry on the legacy of trailblazing women by receiving the Sherry Lansing Award,” THR editorial director Matthew Belloni said.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled that The Hollywood Reporter has chosen Reese Witherspoon for this year’s leadership award,” added Lansing. “We all know what an astonishing actress she is. But, equally important, she’s been a pioneer and role model for so many others — both women and men — in producing some of the best film and television in recent years, and in her extraordinary philanthropic endeavors, particularly in support of Time’s Up and Stand Up to Cancer,” the former CEO of Paramount Pictures said.
Witherspoon won an Oscar for portraying June Carter in “Walk the Line.” “Big Little Lies” and “A Wrinkle in Time” are among Witherspoon’s recent credits. She won an Emmy for producing the former, a murder mystery based on Liane Moriarty’s novel of the same name. You can catch her next in “The Morning Show,” hitting Apple TV+ November 1. She’ll also star opposite Kerry Washington in Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” an adaptation of Celeste Ng’s novel about the ties between two very different women. Witherspoon is producing both of those projects as well.
Joining Witherspoon at the Women in Entertainment gala will be Charlize Theron and Stacey Abrams. Theron will help present $1 million in scholarships to LA high school seniors from underserved communities, all of whom have participated in THR’s Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program. Abrams, the first black woman to receive a gubernatorial nomination in a major party in the U.S., will deliver the keynote address.
Olivia Wilde will guest edit the coinciding Women in Entertainment issue of THR, on newsstands December 11.
