Reese Witherspoon: Goldie Hawn is my ‘idol’
Reese Witherspoon delivered a touching speech honouring Goldie Hawn as she was inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday (04.05.17).
The ‘Snatched’ star and her long-term parter Kurt Russell were given a dual ceremony as they both received stars on the famous Los Angeles sidewalk, and fellow actress Reese dubbed herself the "biggest fan" of Goldie’s work as she stepped up to give a speech in honour of the icon.
Reese, 41, said: "OK, first of all, I just don’t know where to begin with the amount of excitement I have had since 6:30 this morning. I had to go down and make an ‘I love Goldie’ button because I am literally her biggest fan. Really, I mean it. I mean, if you don’t believe me, my very first email address was [email protected]. OK? That’s how much I loved these two people."
"Second of all, I can’t believe Goldie actually texted me about a month ago and asked me to be here. [It’s a] huge honour, and I hope it’s not weird that I printed out a text and I framed it and I put it on my wall."
The ‘Legally Blonde’ actress went on to praise the 71-year-old icon for influencing "every career choice" the blonde beauty has made to date, as she said Goldie was the first movie star she "fell in love with".
She continued: "The first time I ever fell in love with a movie star, it was Goldie Hawn. Oh my gosh, I’m going to try not to cry. Her characters had such a huge, profound effect on my career. In 2001, someone sent me a script for Legally Blonde, and I was like, ‘I really like the character, but I’m not sure.’ … Basically, every career choice I make in my life, I think, ‘Would Goldie approve of this?’"
And Reese also branded the ‘Death Becomes Her’ actress as an "inspiration", and thanked her for encouraging women to "control their own destiny."
She concluded: "Since the first time I saw her onscreen, Goldie has just inspired me. She’s taught me to want more out of my life, out of my films, and she taught me to want more out of my career. And I became a producer because of her. She changed the possibilities of what women can do in films. So, thank you, Goldie.
"Thank you for inspiring us, all of us. Thank you for inspiring women and actresses to control their own destiny and for inspiring women to demand respect, no matter where they are or what they’re doing. And thank you for making us laugh, and thank you for making us happy. She just lights up the screen, she’s lit up my life. And I hope one day I can be held in the same esteem that I hold her. She’s changed my life. And she’s quite simply my idol, and I love you, Goldie."
Also in attendance at the ceremony was Goldie’s daughter and singer Kate Hudson, as well as director Quentin Tarantino.
Meanwhile, before the ceremony, Goldie spoke about how "great" it was to be able to enjoy the honour alongside her 66-year-old partner, whom she has been dating since 1983.
She told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: "It’s really kind of great. We’re [getting] our stars together and it is kind of a celebration of the two of us!"
"We’re gonna have our friends there, old friends, it’ll be very nice. It’s been such a long time since we ever did anything like this. People look and say, ‘You mean you don’t have one yet?’ No we don’t, actually."
