Jean Marc Vallee has had a whirlwind couple of years. A 25-day shoot on a budget of just $5 million turned into the $55 million dollar Oscar-winning hit, Dallas Buyers Club and now his new movie Wild is winning rave reviews at the Telluride Film Festival. EntertainmentWise caught up with the director, who had nothing but praise for his new lead Reese Witherspoon.
Dallas Buyers Club earned Matthew McConaughey and his co-star Jared Leto Oscars earlier this year, after Vallee helped Matt break free of his romantic lead past to play homophobic AIDs patient Ron Woodroof. In amid Oscar glory for Dallas, Vallee has been hard at work on his new project, WIld which is based on Cheryl Strayed's bestselling memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. And the tale of one woman's 1,100 mile hike to discover herself has obvious parallels with Woodroof's story.
"I'm a sucker for a story and for emotional and funny stories", Vallee explained to EntertainmentWise. "Dallas had this quality and Cheryl is in a way an underdog too, there's something so emotional about her life and describing her hike in order to change and become the woman that her mother wanted her to be and she's funny still and she's able to laugh about herself."
As for his leading lady Reese, Vallee agreed that the Legally Blonde star has had a similar transition to Matthew with this project:
"Reese and Matthew are in similar places in their life, they're healthy, they're beautiful, they're married with kids. They have money and everything so what's next? And what's next is Dallas Buyers Club and Wild, they want to be challenged otherwise they can just stop and do the same. And Reese went wild!"
Vallee's new lead Reese Witherspoon got dirty for Wild (WhoSay)
The director insisted though that it hasn't been an intentional ploy of his to transform romantic comedy leads into critically acclaimed dramatic actors, but he has enjoyed pushing some of Hollywood's most recognisable faces away from their comforts! Need evidence of Reese's transformation? During the gruelling shoot for Wild, Reese shared a photo of herself online, showing America's Sweetheart completely covered in dirt as she got to grips with the physical demands of playing Cheryl.
And the ploy seems to be working, as the film, Reese's performance and Laura Dern's role as Cheryl's mother, have all been hailed by critics at Colorado's Telluride festival over the past few days. There's even whispers of an Oscar for Reese, who previously won an Academy Award for her portrayal of June Carter in 2006's Walk The Line. And if anyone can lead Reese to that second win it's Vallee.
Wild hits cinemas this December.
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