(MENAFN- IANS) Los Angeles, Oct 18 (IANS) Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon says she was determined to have a female protagonist at the heart of her debut thriller novel Gone Before Goodbye.

The 49-year-old actress has collaborated with best-selling author Harlan Coben for the novel, which follows Maggie, an accomplished surgeon who is trapped in a deadly conspiracy.

The actress told BBC News: "Growing up, I always saw James Bond movies, my dad was obsessed with them, but I was like, why are (the girls) all in bikinis, and I don't understand what that's got to do with solving the crime.

"If I was going to do a thriller, I wanted the woman to be at the centre of it. I wanted her to have a unique skill set everybody in the world wanted, but she didn't even realise it, and that she doesn't have to shoot guns or punch bad guys. She's actually just very smart and very intuitive and an incredible surgeon."

Witherspoon said that her parents' jobs was a source of inspiration for the characters in Gone Before Goodbye, reports co.

She said: "I grew up in a medical military family and I grew up on a military base, so I was surrounded by other mums and dads who were medical military people. There was this sense of service, and that what they were doing was an important service to humanity, but also to their country."

The actress is pushing for more strong female leads in Hollywood and is determined to use her successful Hello Sunshine company to fill "the gap".

The Oscar-winning star explained: "I always see the gap, I see the white space. I started Hello Sunshine in 2011 because I just wasn't seeing complex storytelling for women in the movie space.

"So, in a way, I was just taking the relationships I've had from 30 years of being an actor and just helping shine a light on women who were ready for those opportunities."

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