“I wish I could take that younger self and be a little less tough on her,” she explained. Hahn learned a lot from playing Clare as she’s approaches her 50th birthday, she says she’s found her power in a new way. You’re in your messiness and it’s hard to go there and let people see you be messy.” It challenges your ideas of self and you’re challenged to not judge yourself. It’s probably the most vulnerable I’ve ever felt in my entire life,” said Witherspoon. And knows just how difficult the character is. Witherspoon, who played a version of Strayed in “Wild,” now feels a connection to Hahn.

“We’re in this era of a messy, flawed heroin as a person to be as a woman, which is so interesting to me because I feel that what’s so beautifully captured in Liz’s adaptation and so tricky, and so beautiful and singular and honest, is that you scratch the surface of any single person on this planet and everyone’s a disaster underneath,” said Hahn. When she read the book, she felt less alone. Then they had to search for their leading lady, the person who would play Clare - a version of Cheryl. Liz Tiglaar, the series’ creator and showrunner, had admired Strayed’s books for years when the folks at Hello Sunshine suggested her to adapt the collection of essays. It is a gift for all of us to see ourselves in.” “Each of us found it in some magical way at the very moment we needed it, which is how ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ comes to you,” she said. Laura Dern, who starred in the film adaptation of “Wild” alongside Witherspoon and is also an executive producer on “Tiny Beautiful Things,” noted that the book became a Bible. But through that experience, we started talking about ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ and how important that is, that people feel seen and heard and not alone in this world.” “And the book ‘Wild’ literally changed my life by making that movie with you. “In this lifetime, to have a writer like you in this world to help us synthesize the human experience, because we all go through pain, suffering, joy, happiness, humanity, those experiences through your eyes has changed my life,” executive producer Reese Witherspoon told author Cheryl Strayed during the conversation.

In an exclusive conversation with Variety, the women of the Hulu series opened up about how it all came together and how big of an impact the story has had on each of their lives. “ Tiny Beautiful Things” is a product of love.

Wild reese witherspoon book