Reese says she was advised not to sing

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NEW YORK, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon says she was advised early on in her career not to sing.

Witherspoon, 34, would famously go on, however, to win an Oscar for her portrayal of late country music star June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," a film for which she also recorded her own vocals.

While talking to reporters in New York recently about her new romantic comedy "How Do You Know," the actress was asked what advice she received early in her career turned out to be right or wrong.

"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 to the singing coaching session at the end and I had my evaluation and they said, 'Whatever you do, don't sing,'" Witherspoon recalled during the press conference. "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,' but 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."

Co-starring Jack Nicholson, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson, "How Do You Know" is in theaters now.