Pinch Me: An Interview with A Wrinkle in Time’s Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling

Just over one week ago, I sat in a room, as part of a group interview, with Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. The three women play the three Misses in A Wrinkle in Time, which opens on Friday. I was there as a guest of Disney and to say I experienced all the feels puts in mildly. It was something I will never forget as long as I live. These are women who I have loved for much of my life and to have the chance to talk with them and hear such poignant thoughts and relatable moments was profound. Today I’m excited to share all my favorite parts with you.

We were seated in a small hotel meeting room. The junket took place at the W Hotel in Los Angeles. It appeared that one entire floor was dedicated to the junket.

Oprah and Mindy arrived to our room at the same time, and Reese arrived a few minutes later. Oprah was very personable and chatty while we waiter, while Mindy was a bit quieter, but still extremely friendly and kind.

During those first couple minutes, Oprah did what she does best, celebrating the good in people and the work they do. Knowing she was in a room of bloggers, she said, “Isn’t the blogging world fantastic? Look at this new world we’re living in where everybody gets a voice and has power and authority to speak and have what you say mean something, it’s incredible really.” It was validating and heartwarming that she started our time together that way.

Once Reese arrived, you could see that the three women have developed a very real friendship and had great chemistry. The interview included a lot of shared laughs and banter amongst the three women.

I sat in the front row, directly across from Oprah and Mindy. You can see my brown hair and pink dress in the photo above. We could have reached out and touched hands.  Our group had about 10 minutes to ask questions and, as you can imagine, with a room of 25 bloggers and three women to answer our questions, we only had time for a few.

The first question asked was one that was especially meaningful to me as a mom to three kids who barely know who these powerhouse women are. Because I know they are going to be inspired by the movie, but not because of the actors.

“How do you hope this movie and your roles inspire this next generation of girls?”

I loved Reese’s answer, when she said, “A part of what I loved about making the movie, that I think is also in the movie and you really feel is the power when women are together and talking, and NOT the only woman in a movie or the only woman in a board room or the only woman who’s a manager at her company. And I think the power of that to young women to say, ‘We’re not against each other.’ When we get together, we create abundance and really that’s been a driving part of my career, the more I collaborate with women, the more we create for each other. So I think that’s a that’s a concept that we need to put into our little girls’ brains.”

Oprah then added, “What I do know for sure is that everybody’s goal is, whether they can articulate it as such or not, is to live a life that matters and a life that has meaning. And I think that my handprints, my heartprints, all over the Oprah show for all those years is a is a magnificent purpose to have lived. But I also knew when we were doing this film that there would be young girls who would come along and they would see me and they would say, “What do you mean she had a talk show?’ and that the imprint, the heartprint that you eventually will leave in this world will come from what is said in this movie. And so for your generation that I helped to raise there will be generations to come that will be raised on this story.”

Mindy commented on how the movie would have made her feel, as a young Indian little girl in America, saying, “The cast is so inclusive. I’ve never seen anything like that, and I think that as a young woman I would have felt so much joy from watching it. And as a dreamer I think I wouldn’t have to dream quite so hard to picture myself on screen.” Her love of the film’s diversity is something I really love and appreciate too. Children need movies that reflect their world (I’ll share more about this tomorrow in our interview with Storm Reid, the young girl who plays Meg.)

As readers of A Wrinkle in Time would expect, the movie has rich dialogue and great quotes throughout it. One blogger asked the Misses favorite lines from the movie. I felt like their responses captured the beauty and depth of A Wrinkle in Time in such a poignant way. This truly is a movie parents will enjoy as much, or even more than, their children.

Reese shared, “I know my favorite was when Storm looks up and she’s talking to her little brother who’s been possessed by darkness and she says ‘I deserve to be loved.’ I lost it. I was like, we all deserve to be loved, and we all deserve to tell our stories and be the the center, the lead of our own movie, the captain of our ship. And we do not see that enough, we don’t see ourselves enough and I think a movie like this with a company like Disney getting behind it says so much to to young people.”

Mindy added, “There are so many quotations in the movie, but one of them really in a quick part is when Storm has fallen down and she’s she’s feeling hurt, she doesn’t want to stand up. And I say, ‘the wound is where the light enters,’ which is so profound.”

Oprah followed up Mindy by saying, “That’s why that one resonated so deeply with me because I’ve often said that the wounds help you create wisdom for yourself. ‘The wound is where the light enters,’ when I heard that it resonated deeply with me because I feel that is really true, that everything that happens to you, that wounds you, that is crisis… is the open door for more light to actually come in. My favorite is when Mrs. Which says to Storm, ‘Do you know how many millions and millions of events had to occur as they did in order for you to be exactly the way you are?’ And I actually think that about my own life as a African American who came from slaves and that story that journey. And I think about it for the life of everyone I meet. Everybody on the planet, I just think of what it took to get you here.”

At the end of our time together, we posed for a few group photo and I was lucky enough (and short enough) to get tucked right behind the three stars. As you can see, everyone in the room was beaming!

After the photo, Reese turned around and made a point to tell me she loved my dress. I had purposely worn the Draper James shift hoping she would notice and was tickled she did. (Draper James is Reese’s clothing company. I recommend signing up for their emails, as their Lucky Day sales often mean you can find the clothes for 75% off!). Get $20 off your first purchase here. Now, if only Reese and I could have talked books! She and I have such similar reading styles.

The whole thing was truly was an unforgettable experience. Be sure to visit The Mom Creative every day this week for more fun A Wrinkle in Time content. And if you didn’t read about my movie premiere experience, go do that here. Also, don’t forget to preorder movie tickets to see A Wrinkle in Time this weekend. I have a feeling theaters are going to be packed.

 

Thank you to Disney for the invitation and hosting the event and to Louise Manning Bishop for taking photos during the interviews.