Reese Witherspoon

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Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon at the premiere of Flags of Our Fathers, October 2006.
Birth name Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon
Born March 22, 1976 (1976-03-22) (age 31)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Occupation actress, producer
Years active 1991 - present
Spouse(s) Ryan Phillippe (1999-2007)

Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an Academy Award winning American actress, who has established as the highest-paid actress of Hollywood in recent years.

Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the leading actress in the movie The Man in the Moon in 1991. Her performance received positive reviews, which became a motivation for her to continue an acting career. Witherspoon's performance in Freeway in 1996 established her as a rising star, and led to roles in three major movies Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville and Twilight in 1998. In 1999, Witherspoon appeared in the critically acclaimed Election, which garnered her first Golden Globe nomination. 2001 saw her breakout role as Elle Woods in the box office hit Legally Blonde, and in the following year, she starred in Sweet Home Alabama, which became her biggest commercial success to date. In 2005, Witherspoon received worldwide attention and praise for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, a role that earned her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.

Witherspoon married actor Ryan Phillippe in 1999 and has two children, Ava and Deacon. She and Phillippe separated at the end of 2006 and divorced in October 2007. Witherspoon is known for her work in child and woman advocacy organizations; she serves on the board of Children's Defense Fund and is the first Global Ambassador of Avon Products's charity.

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Witherspoon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, into a middle-class family.[1][2] Her father, John Witherspoon, is a Georgia-born otolaryngologist who previously served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves.[3][4] Her mother, Betty, is a Ph.D pediatric nurse from Harriman, Tennessee, who works as a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University.[4][5][6] Witherspoon is a direct descendant of Scotland-born John Witherspoon, the sixth president of Princeton University and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence.[5][7] Because Witherspoon's father worked for the US military in Wiesbaden, Germany, she lived there for four years as a small child.[6][8] After returning to the United States, she settled and spent her childhood in Nashville, Tennessee,[6][8] where she was raised in the Episcopalian religion.[9]

Witherspoon was chosen as the model for a TV advertisement at age seven, which motivated her to start having acting lessons. [10][11] At age eleven she became the winner of the Ten-State Talent Fair.[12][10] Witherspoon received good grades as she went to school,[10] she loved reading and considered herself "a big dork who read loads of books".[2] On mentioning her love for books, she said, "I get crazy in a bookstore. It makes my heart beat hard because I want to buy everything".[9] Witherspoon graduated from the private all-girls' Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was a cheerleader.[12][13] She attended Stanford University in California as an English literature major.[14] After completing a year of her studies, she left Stanford to pursue an acting career. [13]

Witherspoon is proud of the "definitive Southern upbringing" she received, which, as she said, gave her "a sense of family and tradition" as well as taught her about "being conscientious about people's feelings, being polite, being responsible and never taking for granted what you have in your life".[13][15] Witherspoon is described as a "multi-achiever" and therefore given the nickname "Little Type A" by her parents.[5][16][17] On discussing her early achievements, she told the Interview magazine, "I just don't see any of it as that remarkable. Maybe that's the attitude I choose to have to keep me sane and keep my feet on the ground. I grew up in an environment where women accomplished a lot. And if they weren't able to it was because they were limited by society."[4]

In 1991, Witherspoon attended an open casting call for The Man in the Moon with her friends, intending to audition as a bit player.[13] She was instead cast in the lead role of Dani Trant, a 14-year-old country-girl who falls in love for the first time with her 17-year-old neighbour. Her performance was regarded as "memorably touching" by the Variety magazine,[18] and critic Roger Ebert commented on Witherspoon's kiss scene in the movie, "Her first kiss is one of the most perfect little scenes I've ever seen in a movie."[10] That same year, she made her TV acting debut by appearing in the cable movie Wildflower, directed by Diane Keaton and starring Patricia Arquette.[3][5] In 1992, Witherspoon appeared in the TV movie Desperate Choices: To Save My Child, portraying a critically ill young girl.[3][5] In 1993, she played a young wife in the CBS mini series Return to Lonesome Dove and got a starring role as the leading character Nonnie Parker, a little South African girl who has to cross 2000 kilometres of the Kalahari, in the teen-aimed Disney film A Far Off Place.[3] That same year, Witherspoon had a minor role in Jack the Bear, which garnered her the Young Artist Award "Best Youth Actress co-star".[19] The following year, Witherspoon acted in another leading role as Wendy Pfister in the 1994 film S.F.W., directed by Jefery Levy.

In 1996, Witherspoon was offered parts in two major movies. She appeared in the thriller Fear alongside Mark Wahlberg and Alyssa Milano, playing the role of Nicole Walker, a teenage girl with a handsome boyfriend who later turns out to be a violent psychopath.[13] Later, she appeared as the leading actress in the thriller and black comedy Freeway, starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Brooke Shields. Her character, Vanessa Lutz, is a poor girl living in Los Angeles, who, on the way to her grandmother's home in Stockton, encounters a freeway serial killer.[13] The film received positive reviews from the press. Among them was the San Francisco Chronicle, with Mick LaSalle commenting, "Witherspoon, who does a shrill Texas accent, is dazzling, utterly believable in one extreme situation after the other."[20] Following this performance, Witherspoon won the Best Actress Award at the Cognac Police Film Festival, thus established herself as a rising star.[13][21] The movie also gave Witherspoon more acting experience, as she said, "Once I overcame the hurdle of that movie - which scared me to death - I felt like I could try anything."[14] Following Freeway, Witherspoon stopped acting in major movies for a year in 1997. She returned to the screen in 1998 with major roles in three movies, Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville and Twilight.[5][22] In Pleasantville, a movie about two modern teenage siblings who are transported into the community of the setting of a black and white 1950s television show, Witherspoon starred alongside Tobey Maguire. She portrayed Jennifer, the sister, who is mainly concerned about appearance, relationships and popularity. Witherspoon's performance received good reviews and garnered her the Young Hollywood Award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance.[23] Director Gary Ross firmly said that he believed Witherspoon was "going to be an enormous movie star".[14]

In 1999, Witherspoon starred alongside Alessandro Nivola in the drama thriller Best Laid Plans; she played Lissa, a woman who schemes with her lover to escape an uninhabited town.[3] This same year, she co-starred with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe in the drama film Cruel Intentions, which was based on the 18th century French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Her performance as Annette Hargrove was later praised by the San Francisco Chronicle, "Witherspoon is especially good in the least flashy role, and even when called upon to make a series of cute devilish faces, she pulls it off."[24] In the same year, Witherspoon had the leading role in the critically acclaimed Election, a movie adaptation of the 1998 novel Election by Tom Perrotta.[3][5] She portrayes the high school overachiever Tracy Flick, a competitive and ambitious young woman who runs for the student-body president. The film generated good reviews and Witherspoon's performance earned her the Best Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics as well as a first Golden Globe nomination and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.[25][26] Witherspoon also received a rank on the list of 100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time by Premiere.[27] Academy Award - winning director Alexander Payne praised her, "She's got that quality that men find attractive, while women would like to be her friend. But that's just the foundation. Nobody else is as funny or brings such charm to things. She can do anything."[15] However, Witherspoon noted in an interview that she struggled to find work after completing the film.[28] When analyzing the reasons behind her difficulty to find work, Witherspoon commented "I think because the character I played was so extreme and sort of shrewish - people thought that was who I was, rather than me going in and creating a part. I would audition for things, and I'd always be the second choice - studios never wanted to hire me, and I wasn't losing the parts to big box-office actresses but to ones who I guess people felt differently about."[4]

In 2000, Witherspoon received a supporting role in American Psycho and made a cameo appearance in Little Nicky.[22] She also appeared as a guest star in season six of Friends, playing the role of Jill Green, Rachel Green's sister.[29] The next year, Witherspoon provided the voice of Serena in the animated film The Trumpet of the Swan, produced by Crest Animation Productions.

2001 marked the turning point in Witherspoon's career when she starred in Legally Blonde as Elle Woods, a fashion merchandising major who decided to become a law student to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard University. Speaking about Woods' character, Witherspoon said "When I read Legally Blonde, I was like, 'She's from Beverly Hills, she's rich, she's in a sorority. She has a great boyfriend. Oh yeah, she gets dumped. Who cares? I still hate her.' So we had to make sure she was the kind of person you just can't hate."[15] Legally Blonde was a box-office hit, grossing $96 million worldwide.[30] Witherspoon's performance earned her praise from the critics, as the press began referring to her as "the new Meg Ryan".[31] Roger Ebert commented, "Witherspoon effortlessly animated this material with sunshine and quick wit",[32] and Salon.com noted that "she [Witherspoon] delineates Elle's character beautifully."[33] Meanwhile, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer concluded, "Witherspoon is a talented comedian who can perk up a scene just by marching in full of pep and drive and she powers this modest little comedy almost single-handedly."[34] Subsequently, Witherspoon garnered her second Golden Globe Best Actress nomination and an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance.

Following the success of Legally Blonde, Witherspoon starred in a number of different roles. In 2002, Witherspoon provided the voice of the animated character Greta Wolfcastle in The Simpsons episode The Bart Wants What It Wants.[35] The same year, she portrayed Cecily in the comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, a movie adaptation of a play by Oscar Wilde and received a Teen Choice Award nomination for her performance.[36][37] Her next movie in 2002 was Sweet Home Alabama, a movie directed by Andy Tennant. Witherspoon played Melanie Carmichael, a young fashion designer who is going to marry a New York politician; her problem is that she has to go to Alabama to divorce her childhood sweetheart whom she has left for seven years. This movie is also Witherspoon's biggest box office hit to date; it earned over 35 million in the opening weekend, then grossed over 127 million internationally.[30][38] Despite the commercial success, Sweet Home Alabama was given negative reviews by the critics. It was called "a romantic comedy so rote, dull and predictable" by the Miami Herald,[39] and the press widely agreed that Witherspoon was the only factor that helped the movie attract a large audience.[40][41] When mentioning Witherspoon's role in the movie, the The Christian Science Monitor concluded, "She is not the movie's main attraction, she is its only attraction."[42]

Reese Witherspoon being interviewed at the premiere of Walk The Line with Jerry Pinnocoli of Extra at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival
Reese Witherspoon being interviewed at the premiere of Walk The Line with Jerry Pinnocoli of Extra at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2003, Witherspoon followed up the success of Legally Blonde by starring in the sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. Her character, Elle Woods, has now become a Harvard-educated lawyer who is determined to protect animals from cosmetics-industry science tests. The sequel was not as successful as the first movie, as it generated mostly critical reviews. USA Today considered the movie "plodding, unfunny and almost cringe-worthy", it also noted, "Reese Witherspoon still does a fine job portraying the fair-haired lovable brainiac, but her top-notch comic timing is wasted on the humorless dialogue."[43] Meanwhile, Salon.com concluded that the sequel "calcifies everything that was enjoyable about the first movie."[44] Despite being a critical failure, the sequel took over $39 million in its first five days in the US box office charts and went on to gross 90 million internationally.[45] Witherspoon received a $15 million paycheck for the role, which made her become one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses in 2005.[15][46]

In 2004, Witherspoon starred as Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, adapted from the 19th century classic novel Vanity Fair and directed by Mira Nair. Becky Sharp - Witherspoon's character, is a woman whose impoverished childhood turns her into a person with ruthless ambition and determination to find a fortune and have a position in the society. Witherspoon was pregnant during the filmmaking and was therefore carefully costumed to conceal her pregnancy.[47] This was not a hindrance to her work, as Witherspoon believed the gestation had in fact helped her portrayal of Sharp’s character, "I love the luminosity that pregnancy brings, I love the fleshiness, I love the ample bosom - it gave me much more to play with." she said.[48][49] The film and Witherspoon's portrayal of Sharp received good reviews, as The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Nair's cast is splendid. Witherspoon does justice to the juicy role by giving the part more buoyancy than naughtiness."[50] At the same time, The Charlotte Observer called her work "an excellent performance that's soft around the edges" and the Los Angeles Times concluded that Becky is "a part Reese Witherspoon was born to play."[51][52]

In early 2005, Witherspoon starred alongside Mark Ruffalo in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven; she played Elizabeth Masterson, a dedicated San Francisco doctor who is involved in a car accident and becomes a spirit, her spirit returns to her old apartment and she later finds true love there.[53]

Reese Witherspoon at the 65th Golden Globe Awards in 2007
Reese Witherspoon at the 65th Golden Globe Awards in 2007

In this same year, Witherspoon was chosen to portray June Carter Cash, wife of country music singer-songwriter Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. She never had the chance to meet Carter Cash, as Witherspoon was filming Vanity Fair when Carter Cash died.[4] Witherspoon did her own vocals in the movie, and as the songs had to be performed in front of a real audience, she had to spend six months learning how to sing.[54][55] When first learned that she had to give a live performance, Witherspoon was so worried that she asked her lawyer to terminate film contract.[55] "That was the most challenging part of the role," she later recalled in an interview, "I had to learn to sing: I'd never sung professionally."[56] Witherspoon's portrayal of Carter Cash was well received by the critics, and Roger Ebert wrote that her performance added "boundless energy" to the movie.[57] She won several critical awards across the globe, including the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actor's Guild, the BAFTA and the Academy Award for Best actress in a lead role. Witherspoon had expressed her passion for the movie, "I really like in this film that it is realistic and portrays sort of a real marriage, a real relationship where there are forbidden thoughts and fallibility. And it is about compassion in the long haul, not just the short easy solutions to problems."[58] She also talked about the character of June Carter Cash in particular, stating that she believed Carter Cash was a woman ahead of her time, "I think the really remarkable thing about her character is that she did all of these things that we sort of see as normal things in the 1950s when it wasn’t really acceptable for a woman to be married and divorced twice and have two different children by two different husbands and travel around in a car full of very famous musicians all by herself. She didn’t try to comply to social convention, so I think that makes her a very modern woman."[58]

Witherspoon's first post-Oscar role came in the modern-day fairy tale, Penelope, co-starring Christina Ricci. Witherspoon plays the supporting role of Annie, the best friend of Penelope, a girl who has a curse in her family. The film was produced by Witherspoon's company Type A Films and premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.[55][59] The release date of Penelope was, however, delayed twice, and the movie is now set for a February 2008 release.[60][61]

Witherspoon was back in front of the camera again in November 2006 as shooting began for the political thriller Rendition. She starred alongside Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jake Gyllenhaal, playing Isabella El-Ibrahim, the pregnant wife of a bombing suspect. Rendition was released in October, 2007 and marked Witherspoon's first appearance in theatres in two years, since the 2005 release of Walk the Line.[62] The movie was open to mostly criticism and was generally considered a disappointment of the Toronto Film Festival.[63] Witherspoon's performance was also criticized, "Reese Witherspoon is surprisingly lifeless", the USA Today wrote, "She customarily injects energy and spirit into her parts, but here, her performance feels tamped down."[64]

Witherspoon is set to star in a Universal Pictures remake of the 1939 comedy Midnight, scripted by Michael Arndt,[65] Her confirmed projects also include the holiday comedy Four Christmases, a story about a couple who have to spend their Christmas Day trying to visit all four of their divorced parents, in which she will star alongside Vince Vaughn.[66] In 2009, Witherspoon will take on the horror genre for the first time as a star of Our Family Troubles, which she and partner Jennifer Simpson will produce under the Type A banner.[67]

Witherspoon owns a production company called Type A Films. The company was at first believed by the media to have been named after her childhood nickname "Little Miss Type A."[16][68] However, when being asked about the company by the Interview magazine, she clarified the misconception, "People think I named it after myself ... But it just isn't who I am at all. It was actually an in-joke with my family because at 7 I understood complicated medical terms, such as the difference between type A and type B personalities. But I just wished I'd named the company Dogfood Films or Fork or something. You carry that baggage all your life."[4]

Witherspoon is a long-time supporter of Save the Children, an organization that aims to help children around the world through education, health care, and emergency aid.[69] She also serves on the board of the Children's Defense Fund, a child advocacy and research group.[69] In 2006, Witherspoon was among a group of actresses who went to New Orleans, Louisiana in a Children's Defense Fund's project to bring attention to the needs of Hurricane Katrina victims.[70] In this trip, she helped open the city's first Freedom School; she also met and talked with the children.[71] Witherspoon later called this an experience that she would never forget.[71]

In 2007, Witherspoon made her first move into the world of endorsements as she signed a multi-year agreement to serve as the first Global Ambassador of cosmetics company Avon Products.[69][72] She acts as a spokeswoman for Avon's cosmetics and serves as the honorary chairwoman of the Avon Foundation, a charity which supports women and focuses on breast cancer and domestic violence research.[73][74] Witherspoon is also involved in product development and appears in advertisements.[73] Explaining her motives for joining the foundation, she said, "As a woman and a mother I care deeply about the well being of other women and children throughout the world and through the years, I have always looked for opportunities to make a difference." [73]

Witherspoon hosted Saturday Night Live on September 29, 2001.[75] In 2006, she was among the Time 100, a list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.[76] Her featured article was written by friend and fellow co-star in the Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde movies, Luke Wilson.[77] The same year, she was also listed as one of 100 Sexiest Women In The World by FHM.[78] Witherspoon has appeared on the annual Celebrity 100 list by Forbes magazine in 2006 and 2007.[79][80]

In 2007, she was selected by People magazine as one of the best dressed female stars of the year.[81] At the end of the same year, Witherspoon made the headline of the world wide press and media, as she established herself as the United States film industry's highest-paid actress, earning $15 to $20 million a movie, according to the survey by the film-trade paper The Hollywood Reporter.[8][82][83][84]

Witherspoon met American actor Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party in March 1997, where she introduced herself to him saying "I think you're my birthday present".[85][86] The pair got engaged in December of 1998.[87] The following year, having starring together in the box office hit Cruel Intentions, they married in Charleston, South Carolina on June 5, 1999.[88][89] They have two children: daughter Ava Elizabeth, born September 9, 1999,[90] and son Deacon, born October 23, 2003.[88] In order to be able look after the children at all times, the couple alternated shooting for films.[86]

By 2005, in response to critical news reports of Witherspoon and Phillippe receiving marriage counseling, Witherspoon stated, "We've done that in the past, and it's always struck me as odd that people grabbed onto that story and made it sound so negative".[91] In December 2005, she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show, "In what capacity is working on yourself or your marriage a bad thing? What marriage isn't a journey? ... Nobody's perfect ... We all have our own set of problems."[91][92] That same month, Witherspoon also said in an interview, "I think if anybody rests on the idea that they are perfect or their life is perfect or their relationship is perfect and is so troubled about destroying the facade as opposed to getting to what's real, that is troublesome."[4]

On June 21, 2006 Witherspoon sued the Star magazine for running a false story on her third pregnancy.[93] She sought unspecified general and punitive damages in the lawsuit, asserting that the claim harmed her reputation because it suggested she was hiding the news from producers of her upcoming films.[94] On October 30, 2006, Witherspoon and Phillippe announced that they decided to formally separate after seven years of marriage.[95] On November 8, 2006, Witherspoon filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as a reason.[96][97] In her petition she sought joint legal custody of their two children and sole physical custody, with full visitation rights for Phillippe.[97][98] Although the couple have no prenuptial agreement and Phillippe is entitled to half of Witherspoon's assets by California law,[99][100] she requested that the court not grant spousal support for Phillippe.[97] On May 15, 2007, Phillippe filed for joint physical custody of the couple's children.[101][102] He did not ask for spousal support, and did not make any move to block Witherspoon from seeking support from him.[102] In September 2007, Witherspoon spoke openly about the separation for the first time when she told Elle magazine that it was "a difficult and frightening experience" for her.[103] On October 5, 2007, Witherspoon and Phillippe’s final divorce documents were filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, which made their single status officially take effect.[104][105]

Throughout 2007 there has been persistent speculation in the mass media over a relationship between Witherspoon and her Rendition co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.[106][107] However, Witherspoon had denied the romance rumours as the pair promoted Rendition in the fall of 2007; she told the Entertainment Tonight, "it's crazy and funny how much people can make stuff up. I'm actually interested to hear what they say next."[108]

Year Title Role Notes
1991 The Man in the Moon Dani Trant
Wildflower Ellie Perkins
1992 Desperate Choices: To Save My Child Cassie
1993 A Far Off Place Nonnie Parker
Jack the Bear Karen Morris Young Artist Award - Best Youth Actress Co-star
1994 S.F.W. Wendy Pfister
1996 Freeway Vanessa Cognac Festival du Film Policier Award - Best Actress
Fear Nicole Walker
1998 Twilight Mel Ames
Overnight Delivery Ivy Miller
Pleasantville Jennifer/Mary Sue
1999 Cruel Intentions Annette Hargrove
Election Tracy Flick Golden Globe Nomination - Best Actress
Independent Spirit Award Nomination - Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award - Best Actress
Best Laid Plans Lissa
2000 Little Nicky Holly Cameo appearance
American Psycho Evelyn Williams
2001 The Trumpet of the Swan Serena Voice
Legally Blonde Elle Woods Golden Globe Nomination - Best Actress
MTV Movie Award - Best Comedic Performance
2002 The Importance of Being Earnest Cecily Cardew
Sweet Home Alabama Melanie Carmichael
2003 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde Elle Woods Executive Producer
2004 Vanity Fair Becky Sharp
2005 Walk the Line June Carter Cash Vocals
BAFTA Award, Academy Award, SAG Award, Golden Globe Award - Best Actress
BFCA Award, National Society of Film Critics Award - Best Actress
Austin Film Critics Association Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award - Best Actress
Just Like Heaven Elizabeth Masterson Song performer
2006 Penelope Annie
2007 Rendition Isabella El-Ibrahimi

Awards
Preceded by
Hilary Swank
for Million Dollar Baby		 Academy Award for Best Actress
2005
for Walk the Line		 Succeeded by
Helen Mirren
for The Queen
Preceded by
Imelda Staunton
for Vera Drake		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
2006
for Walk the Line		 Succeeded by
Helen Mirren
for The Queen
Preceded by
Hilary Swank
for Million Dollar Baby		 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture
2005
for Walk the Line		 Succeeded by
Helen Mirren
for The Queen
Preceded by
Annette Bening
for Being Julia		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2006
for Walk the Line		 Succeeded by
Meryl Streep
for The Devil Wears Prada

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