{"id":490980,"date":"2025-10-11T12:34:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/490980\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T12:34:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:34:26","slug":"reese-witherspoon-wants-her-new-character-to-be-elle-woods-for-the-medical-profession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/490980\/","title":{"rendered":"Reese Witherspoon wants her new character to be Elle Woods ‘for the medical profession’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reese Witherspoon<\/a> had a dynamite new character idea.<\/p>\n

Her name was Maggie McCabe, a grieving former combat surgeon who had her license revoked after a tragedy. Then she gets the offer of a lifetime to become an elite plastic surgeon with anonymous clientele willing to pay any price for discretion.<\/p>\n

But this time, it wasn\u2019t a movie or TV show Witherspoon wanted to make. The Oscar-winning actor wanted to build Maggie\u2019s world in a bigger way, she tells USA TODAY.<\/p>\n

Why not try her hand at writing a book of her own?<\/p>\n

Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben write ‘Gone Before Goodbye’ book\"Reese<\/p>\n

Reese Witherspoon is adding novelist to her repertoire. She and Harlan Coben are the authors of “Gone Before Goodbye,” out Oct. 14.<\/p>\n

Witherspoon has long been a literary champion, bolstering new releases through \u201cReese\u2019s Book Club\u201d and producing screen adaptations of bestselling books including \u201cDaisy Jones & the Six,\u201d<\/a> \u201cBig Little Lies\u201d<\/a> and \u201cWhere the Crawdads Sing.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Enter Harlan Coben,<\/a> bestselling author of 35 suspense novels. The pair first met almost a decade ago at a conference, when Coben came up to Witherspoon and said he loved her work with books. Witherspoon was starstruck.<\/p>\n

Nine years later, Witherspoon called him on the phone to ask to collaborate, giving Coben the \u201cbraggiest story in the world,\u201d he tells USA TODAY. But he was still hesitant to take on the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not that guy. I collaborate on TV shows and things like that, but I’ve never collaborated on a novel,” Coben says. “I’ve always thought a novel is a very individual thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Witherspoon told him about Maggie, and he thought, \u201cOh damn, that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

They spent the next three hours fleshing out the story over the phone, Coben firing back questions and taking notes on a yellow legal pad as Witherspoon revealed her vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both knew at the end, there’s no way we’re not going to do this. This is just too much fun,\u201d Coben says.<\/p>\n

The resulting thriller novel, “Gone Before Goodbye”<\/a> (out Oct. 14 from Grand Central Publishing), is a glitzy, global romp through private surgery rooms and high-security mansions. As Maggie tries to regain her purpose and fulfill her end of the bargain she reluctantly agreed to, she finds herself enmeshed in a thorny conspiracy.<\/p>\n

The actor and the writer: How Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben wrote a book together<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a \u201cnerdy research girl.\u201d He\u2019s a self-proclaimed \u201clazy researcher.\u201d Witherspoon and Coben were a match made in literary heaven for \u201cGone Before Goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Witherspoon dug into the world of trauma surgery, Coben plotted the novel\u2019s key moments. Together, they consulted real cardiac surgeons and got the details of the cutting-edge technology just right \u2013 they wanted it to feel \u201cat the edge of what\u2019s possible\u201d today.<\/p>\n

There was no Google Docs sharing; they tried that for about 24 hours and gave up. \u201cWe\u2019re not tech savvy, despite what the book might look like,\u201d Witherspoon says. But writing the thriller did involve many phone calls. Witherspoon would often send voice memos in the middle of the night, with Coben not knowing whether she was traveling to Europe or laying awake working through a sticky plot moment. The magic of that collaboration, Coben says, lies in leaving your ego at the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not want any of this to appear to be gimmicky,\u201d Coben says. \u201cNeither one of us needed a new resume thing. Neither one of us need to just say we had our names on a book. We both agreed this had to be great, our best work. No one else was ever in the room with this. There was no third person. There was no note taker. It’s just Reese and me working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Gone<\/p>\n

“Gone Before Goodbye” is a suspense novel filled with billionaires, private surgery, AI chatbots and deadly conspiracies.<\/p>\n

One character they\u2019re particularly proud of is Maggie\u2019s loveable father-in-law Porkchop, a hardened motorcyclist who will do anything to protect the people he loves. He\u2019s a scene-stealing character akin, Coben says, to Jennifer Coolidge<\/a> in Witherspoon\u2019s \u201cLegally Blonde.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence a focus of \u2018Gone Before Goodbye\u2019<\/p>\n

The novel also sees Witherspoon doubling down on her previous comments to Glamour Magazine encouraging women to get involved in artificial intelligence<\/a> in Hollywood as it becomes more common.<\/p>\n

In \u201cGone Before Goodbye,\u201d Maggie has a deep connection with a “griefbot,” an AI chatbot designed to mimic a lost loved one. How much to rely on that bot \u2013 and when to let go \u2013 is a moral quandary for the surgeon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all completely feasible,\u201d Witherspoon says. \u201cI think this is part of the reason I talk about wanting everyone to get more involved in these technologies, but understanding that they’re a tool and \u2026 you have to layer human consciousness on top of it, whether that’s humor or empathy or guiding values and principles. You need to understand it’s here. It’s here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coben says he hopes readers chew on the AI themes after they finish the book. Would you want a griefbot of your own if a loved one died? Are they a positive or negative addition to society? The authors were clear they didn\u2019t want to answer the question for readers.<\/p>\n

Will \u2018Gone Before Goodbye\u2019 be a movie? Will Reese Witherspoon star in it?<\/p>\n

The best compliment Witherspoon received from friends who have read \u201cGone Before Goodbye\u201d is that it reads like a movie. So is it destined for the big screen? <\/p>\n

Coben is hopeful, going as far to say he pictures Witherspoon playing Maggie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis happens with a couple of the great actors that I work with, really the best ones do this, and they don’t even realize they’re doing it \u2013 but when they’re starting to talk about the character, they become the character. Your voice changes just a little bit. Their mannerisms change a little bit. And there would be times I’d be sitting with Reese going, ooh, she’s Maggie, right now. I’ve got to get some information out of her,\u201d Coben says.<\/p>\n

Witherspoon plays it a bit more coy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the amazing things about creating a character like this is I can imagine so many women playing her,\u201d she says. \u201cI should be so lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

What she does want is for the character and the story to feel relatable, billionaires and high-speed chases be damned. She wants any reader to envision themselves as Maggie. Of course, she\u2019s excited for fans to step into this medical thriller world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m hoping she does for the medical profession what Elle Woods<\/a> did for the law profession<\/a>,\u201d Witherspoon says, laughing.<\/p>\n

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY\u2019s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram<\/a>, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter<\/a> or tell her what you\u2019re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reese Witherspoon wrote a book. Will she star in its adaptation?<\/a><\/p>\n