Entertainment

Oprah & Reese Witherspoon Did Impressions Of Each Other & Oprah REALLY Went For It

by Parry Ernsberger

Oprah Winfrey: mogul, actor, author, philanthropist, and ... stand-up comedian? Oprah did an impression of Reese Witherspoon during a Mar. 13 appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, and — after a nearly 50-year career — it's finally official: The woman can do it all.

Winfrey — alongside her A Wrinkle In Time co-stars, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling — sat down with Corden to discuss their new sci-fi adventure film, and the conversation turned to on-location activities. "Is it true," Corden asked Witherspoon, "that when you were away shooting the movie in New Zealand, you missed your children so much, you would treat Mindy [Kaling] like a child?"

"Well, you know, James," Witherspoon replied, "I like to create a lot of activities, as a good modern parent does. I'm sort of a helicopter over-planner." Witherspoon — who later dubbed herself "Julie the Cruise Director" — then went on to tell Corden how she'd schedule activities for Kaling and her co-stars on their off days. "I'm like, 'We're going to go on a hike, and then we're going to vineyard," she enthused before Winfrey interjected.

Winfrey, for the record, was so not down with Witherspoon's regimented plans, and told Corden that she prefers "being with her thoughts" over sight-seeing. Fair enough, I get that. She's probably seen it all anyway at this point in her life, right?

When Witherspoon started mimicking her "Julie the Cruise Director" ways, Winfrey interrupted and said, "No, no, let me do it." It was at this point that Oprah revealed her hidden comedic talent to the world, and, well, she really went for it.

Winfrey's impression of Witherspoon was super-Southern, incredibly perky, and something you kind of have to see to believe. "Girls! Ladies, ladies. This is what we're doing. This is what we're doing, y'all!" Winfrey mimicked with over-emphasized, pointed hand gestures.

She then rattled off all the various activities Witherspoon tried to talk her into, including: "a hike, y'all," "going on a boat, y'all," visiting "this beautiful yoga place, y'all," "drinks, y'all," and "dancing, y'all." Seriously, though — Winfrey accentuated every item on their itinerary with a Witherspoon-esque "y'all," and it's kind of hilarious. OK, not kind of — it was straight-up hilarious, y'all.

Witherspoon was definitely a good sport about the whole thing, and you could tell that she found Winfrey's impression endearing (and accurate). That didn't stop her, however, from doing her own impression of Winfrey when goaded by Corden.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

"Well, we heard your Reese Witherspoon impression," Corden said to Winfrey, "Reese, give us your best Oprah." Witherspoon's first instinct was to go with "the giving of the car" impression — an impression of Winfrey she did backstage at the 2018 Golden Globes — but decided to take things in a different direction this time.

Instead, Witherspoon deepened her voice, put her fingertips together, and said — in her best Serious Oprah voice — "something very emphatic, with a very low voice, about how deep the meaning of life is." Obviously, Winfrey cracked up, because if you dish it out, you definitely have to know how to take it, too.

Kaling got the Witherspoon-impression treatment shortly thereafter, and the high-pitched, fast-talking was pretty darn spot-on. The only downside to all of this playful banter was that Kaling didn't get to share her impressions of her co-stars — and you know those would have been good.

While Witherspoon might not have been able to get Winfrey to go on a hike, y'all, it's clear that the women of A Wrinkle In Time developed some serious bonds while filming. Here's to hoping that they all keep bonding while they're doing press for the movie, if for no other reason than to give Winfrey more material for her super-Southern Witherspoon impression.