Reese Witherspoon’s Speech at the Emmys Is Girl Power at Its Finest

Can we take a second and talk about Reese Witherspoon and that quick, but notable, speech she gave during the Emmys tonight? Her first time at the Television Academy’s ceremony, the 41-year-old was in the audience to represent for her critically-acclaimed limited HBO series, Big Little Lies. The show took home the Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series, along with eight other wins, and it’s a true testament to the power of women on screen.

While on stage accepting the award for Outstanding Limited Series, Witherspoon made sure to remind Hollywood exactly why Big Little Lies is such a huge success, and let other female creatives know now is the time to come forth and grab this opportunity. “It’s been an incredible year for women on television,” she said. “Can I just say, bring women to the front of their own stories and make them the hero of their own stories. And thank you for that opportunity and for audiences to wrap their arms around us. Jean‑Marc [Vallée], David Kelley, you are incredible and thank you for giving us these stories.”

“This is a friendship that then created opportunities,” Big Little Lies co-star, Nicole Kidman, added. “It created opportunities out of our frustration because we weren’t getting offered great roles. So now, more great roles for women, please. Thank you.”

In an interview with People in February, Witherspoon shared that the reason she chose to produce Big Little Lies —which focuses on a group of women dealing with domestic violence, divorce, infertility struggles, and fears of aging, and also happen to be entangled in a murder mystery — was because she was tired of living in a man’s world. “So often I’m the only woman on a set full of men,” she noted.

Girl, preach!

The mother-of-three and her Big Little Lies co-star [Kidman] have made it their mission to get quality content focused on women at the forefront. Here’s hoping this will also include Latinas and other women of color.