Reese Witherspoon on turning impostor syndrome into confidence | ReThinking with Adam Grant

The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. This is an episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. When Reese Witherspoon was in rehearsals for her lead role in the 2005 film Walk the Line, she wanted to quit — every day. But she went on to win the Oscar for her performance as June Carter Cash. Since then, she’s gone from playing iconic roles in films (Legally Blonde, Election, Water for Elephants) to producing and starring in her own TV shows and movies (Little Fires Everywhere, Big Little Lies, Wild). Reese talks to Adam about how she’s built confidence by facing her doubts head on and shares why acknowledging what she doesn’t know helped her found a company — which was recently acquired for $900 million — that finally puts women at the center of their stories. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAG7 For more from the TED Audio Collective, subscribe at youtube.com/tedaudiocollective

Adam GranthostReese Witherspoonguest

Nov 11, 202242mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: November 11, 2022
Duration: 42m
Channel: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. This is an episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, a podcast from the TED Audio Collective. When Reese Witherspoon was in rehearsals for her lead role in the 2005 film Walk the Line, she wanted to quit — every day. But she went on to win the Oscar for her performance as June Carter Cash. Since then, she’s gone from playing iconic roles in films (Legally Blonde, Election, Water for Elephants) to producing and starring in her own TV shows and movies (Little Fires Everywhere, Big Little Lies, Wild). Reese talks to Adam about how she’s built confidence by facing her doubts head on and shares why acknowledging what she doesn’t know helped her found a company — which was recently acquired for $900 million — that finally puts women at the center of their stories. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAG7 For more from the TED Audio Collective, subscribe at youtube.com/tedaudiocollective

SPEAKERS

Adam Grant
host
Organizational psychologist, professor, and host of the podcast ReThinking.
Reese Witherspoon
guest
Actor and producer; founder of the media company Hello Sunshine.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, featuring Adam Grant and Reese Witherspoon, Reese Witherspoon on turning impostor syndrome into confidence | ReThinking with Adam Grant explores reese Witherspoon reframes impostor syndrome through preparation, persistence, and purpose-led leadership Witherspoon explains her character-building process as deep preparation—studying background, micro-behaviors, and context—so authentic reactions emerge rather than forced performance.

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