Reese Witherspoon reveals her career inspirations

Reese Witherspoon's career is inspired by real-life stories.

The 39-year-old actress - who stars alongside Arnold Oceng in the 2014 drama movie 'The Good Lie', about a group of Sudanese refugees - has revealed she takes inspiration from true and informative stories, similar to those explored in the Philippe Falardeau-directed movie.

She shared: "I'm definitely one of those people that has post-its everywhere, like, the six evils in the world and how to avoid them, I really do.

"Desire, greed, envy. I try to tell myself all those things to avoid. The positive affirmations, I have to say that 'judge not less ye be judged' is a pretty good one that's sort of guided me through life."

Meanwhile, Reese also advised aspiring stars to follow their own path, rather than taking too much advice from outsiders.

She recalled: "I really wanted to be a Broadway kid and so I went to all these camps in the Catskills and I had to sing and dance and act and I remember getting through the singing coaching session at the end and I had my evaluation and they said, 'Whatever you do - don't sing!'

"I think that I told that story when I won an award for 'Walk The Line.' I was like, 'Thank God I didn't listen to them!'

"Frankly, it was hard to get over that mental block because someone had told me, basically, 'You don't know how to do that. Don't do it.' So you have to be careful what you say to people."

Reese Witherspoon's 'The Good Lie' is out on Blu-ray and DVD now, courtesy of Entertainment One.