'People want you to stay in your lane': Reese Witherspoon on her 'deeply personal' decision to write a novel

It is "pretty surreal", Academy Award victor Reese Witherspoon admits, uncovering herself astatine the apical of The New York Times bestsellers list.

When I conscionable the actress alongside her co-writer, best-selling writer Harlan Coben, overnight the brace person learned that their thriller is present astatine fig one.

He jokes: "I was texting her past nighttime and saying you'll present person to telephone yourself fig 1 bestselling novelist, hide astir Oscar winner!"

As 1 of the astir palmy authors successful the world, Coben has sold implicit 80 cardinal books to date, portion for Witherspoon this is caller ground.

Not contented with moving a hugely palmy accumulation institution liable for a drawstring of hits, arsenic good arsenic 1 of the astir palmy publication clubs successful the world, she explains she felt compelled to springiness penning a try.

"People privation you to enactment successful your lane… arsenic a originative idiosyncratic I deliberation it's intolerable to conscionable take 1 benignant of life.

"Creativity is infinite and who I was arsenic a originative idiosyncratic erstwhile I was 20 is precise antithetic from the idiosyncratic I americium present astatine 49."

Gone Before Goodbye, a thriller astir a talented surgeon who finds herself caught up successful a deadly conspiracy, is the effect of Witherspoon daring to enactment her caput supra the parapet.

Coben admits helium was "a small wary" astatine first.

"I don't co-write novels but erstwhile she made the transportation and started talking astir it, I was similar 'dang that's good, we tin bash thing with that'."

While countless celebrities enactment with ghostwriters, Coben says: "I said to her from time 1 'it's lone going to beryllium you and maine successful here… nary 3rd idiosyncratic successful here, I don't bash that'. So each connection you [read] comes from Reese and me."

Witherspoon explains: "He was similar 'if we're going to bash this, it's going to person to beryllium astatine a truly precocious level due to the fact that radical going to expect a lot, truthful our barroom was truly high."

"I said to her, successful the beginning, novels are similar a sausage," Coben laughs. "You mightiness similar the last taste, but you don't privation to spot however it was made and Reese got to spot the afloat sausage getting made here."

Read much from Sky News:
Bob Vylan's gig postponed
Tainted Love prima dies
Strictly stars to quit

When it came to writing, Coben says they "fell into a bushed close away", moving unneurotic successful three-hour stints, "back and distant with a yellowish ineligible pad - what astir this? What astir that?"

Witherspoon says it "feels truly profoundly personal" to person their enactment present successful print.

"Usually, arsenic an actor, I locomotion into different people's worlds and it's already acceptable up… but this was creating the full satellite with Harlan and conscionable from opening to extremity feels precise personal."

While the communicative seems an evident acceptable for being adapted to the screen, possibly with a definite blonde histrion successful the starring role, Coben says that was ne'er their intention.

"The biggest, biggest mistake novelists marque erstwhile you constitute a publication is to accidental 'this would marque a truly large movie'. A publication is simply a book, a movie is simply a movie, and we some focused connected wanting this to beryllium conscionable a large speechmaking experience."

Given that their collaboration is already selling successful large numbers, volition the brace squad up again to constitute a second?

Witherspoon says: "Let's conscionable spot what radical deliberation of this 1 first."