Reese Witherspoon has reflected on a period in 2018 when an exceptionally heavy workload left her close to breaking point. She said the strain came from trying to do too much at once, admitting she had effectively brought it on herself. The story matters because it shows the pressures behind her move into producing and her wider effort to create more substantial roles for women in Hollywood.

According to the article, Witherspoon was juggling three major television projects at the same time: The Morning Show, Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere. She described switching between very different roles and schedules, and said the pressure left her in tears. The piece frames that difficult year as part of the broader rise of Hello Sunshine, the production company she built to back female-led stories after becoming frustrated with the parts being offered to women.