Comment on Witherspoon goes on a soul-baring ride in 'Wild'

NEW YORK (AP) — Once she'd decided to take on her gritty new role in "Wild," there were a few things Reese Witherspoon knew she DIDN'T want to hear from movie studio executives: She developed the film, which follows a hard-living woman's path to solace and redemption via a long trek in the wilderness, outside the studio system under the auspices of her own production company, with private financing. "Wild," based on the best-selling memoir by Cheryl Strayed, is a story of personal catharsis, and listening to Witherspoon, one gets the sense she was seeking a sort of professional catharsis by choosing it. The role, which has garnered significant Oscar buzz, includes difficult scenes depicting rough sex and heroin use. The physical aspects were really challenging — the elements, the heat, the cold, the water, the rain, 55 locations in 35 days, and carrying that backpack. He noticed that the backpack looked too light and forced her to carry a much heavier one. [...] he just walked away, and I was like, OK ... Because it really WAS digging into my skin! Vallee says Witherspoon went out there with no makeup, looking like nothing, on the trail for 65 percent of the film, looking like a hiker, with a heavy backpack on her back. Witherspoon, who already has one Oscar on the mantelpiece for 2005's "Walk the Line," says it was no accident that she chose such a film at this point in her career, a time that finds her veering away from trademark sunny, bright roles and romantic comedies.