Reese Witherspoon to Be Honored at Palm Springs Film Festival

Actress Reese Witherspoon will be honored at the Palm Springs International Film Festival next month for her starring role in “Wild,” it was announced Thursday.

Witherspoon will accept the Chairman’s Award will be feted on Jan. 3 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, festival organizers said.

“Reese Witherspoon delivers one of her finest performances in ‘Wild,”’ said festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Witherspoon brilliantly brings to life the true story of Cheryl Strayed, adding yet another iconic performance to her impressive 20-year span of characters including June Carter, Tracy Flick and Elle Woods.”

Witherspoon also produced “Wild,” the film version of Strayed’s memoir about hiking more than 1,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail to restart her life after getting a divorce, losing her mother and engaging in reckless behavior, including heroin addiction.

Witherspoon, whose production company was also behind the film adaptation of the bestselling novel “Gone Girl,” won an Academy Award in 2006 for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.”

Past recipients of the Chairman’s Award include Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Richard Gere, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman and Nicole Kidman.

Witherspoon will join fellow honorees Richard Linklater, Eddie Redmayne, J.K. Simmons, Rosamund Pike and Julianne Moore, with other gala nominees still to be announced.

For more information on the Palm Springs International Film Festival, which runs from Jan. 2-12, call (760) 322-2930 or go to www.psfilmfest.org.

— City News Service.

(Image via Shutterstock)