Reese Witherspoon Recalls Being Scouted for ‘Walk the Line’

Reese Witherspoon's "Walk the Line" role was practically meant for her.

While speaking to her "Little Fires Everywhere" co-star Kerry Washington on Washington's “Street You Grew Up On” podcast, Witherspoon revealed how she got the role of June Carter Cash in the 2005 musical.

"That's a funny story because I had grown up in Nashville. I played Mama Maybelle Carter in the fourth grade play," she explained. "That's June's mom, who was, like, one of the very first country recording artists in the 1920s."

Without knowing it, Witherspoon's knowledge on the Carter Cash family would come in handy one day. She specifically remembered meeting James Mangold, the director of "Walk the Line," and impressing him with her Carter Cash knowledge one year before she booked the role.

"I met him at a wedding," she said. "We were at a wedding and he goes, 'Hey, you're from Nashville, aren't you?' And I was like, 'I am. Yeah.' And he goes, 'Do you know who June Carter is?'"

Excited by the question, Witherspoon responded, 'Yeah,' and raved about the character she played in her fourth grade play along with everything she knew about the famous Carter Cash family.

"He was like, 'Are you kidding?' I was like, 'No,'" she said.

"A year later, he called and he said, 'I've written this movie about June Carter and Johnny Cash.' He goes, 'Do you want to play June Carter?' I was like, 'I mean, with all due respect, I think she's about 75," Witherspoon laughed without knowing that she would play a younger version of Carter Cash.

"I was like, 'Oh my God,'" she laughed at the moment.

In 2020, Witherspoon celebrated the 15th anniversary of "Walk the Line." She starred in the drama alongside Joaquin Phoenix, who played the "Hurt" singer, and on Instagram, she shared a photo of them together in the movie.

In the caption, Witherspoon revealed which scene was her favorite in the entire film.

“I will never forget the proposal scene... how Joaquin looked with the light beaming behind him asking June to marry him in front of a full audience,” she wrote. “You could hear a pin drop.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com