Reese Witherspoon said she has “had enough” of talented actresses having to play the roles of “wives and girlfriends in thankless parts”.
The Oscar-winner is one of the stars and executive producers of new HBO series Big Little Lies, which also features Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz.
Reese, 40, said she was “passionate” about producing the show because she wanted to reflect “real women’s experiences” on screen.
Speaking to the Television Critics Association in Pasadena, California, Reese said: “I’m passionate because things have to change. We have to start seeing women as they really are in film, and not just in movie theatres with a tiny budget.
“We need to see real women’s experiences, whether it involves domestic violence, whether it involves sexual assault, whether it involves motherhood, or romance, or infidelity or divorce.
“We need to see these things because we as human beings learn from art and what can you do if you never see it reflected?
“I feel like the constant of women of incredible talent playing wives and girlfriends in thankless parts, I’ve just had enough.
“It’s a unique privilege to be able to come to other women with a piece of material I feel deeply proud of and excited to see their performances.
“These are the kind of things that shift consciousness.”
HBO’s Big Little Lies is an adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel about three mothers – played by Reese, Nicole and Shailene – whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder.
The series, which begins in the US on February 19, is expected to air on Sky Atlantic in the UK in March.
Reese, who won a best actress Oscar in 2006 for her performance in Walk The Line, appeared close to tears as she praised Nicole’s performance in Big Little Lies.
She also spoke about her past experiences on film sets when she was the only woman involved in the production.
“For 25 years, I’ve been the only woman on set,” she said.
“They call it Smurfette Syndrome. She’s the only woman around – who gave birth to all those Smurfs anyway? – so I had no one to talk to.”
Nicole, who is also an executive producer on Big Little Lies, said all five lead female roles were “complicated”.
“I’ve seen in films, read books, seen pieces of art, that when I’ve been in very, very bad places, they’ve lifted me,” she said.
“It’s very rare to find five roles in a piece that we would all jump at the chance to play.”
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