Reese Witherspoon

Background

The vivacious and charming Oscar-winning actress, producer, and businesswoman Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22, 1976, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father, John Draper Witherspoon, a doctor, was also a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve while her mother, Mary Elizabeth Witherspoon, was a Professor of Nursing at Vanderbilt University. Witherspoon has one older brother, John D. Witherspoon, who she credits for her sense of adventure. Her sun sign is Aries. An avid reader right from a young age, Witherspoon was a self-proclaimed dork and quite the multi-achiever. The acting bug bit her when she was a mere seven years old. She enrolled in acting lessons after being selected as a florist’s model. She continued to study, attending high school in Nashville’s all-girls Harpeth Hall School, where she was also a cheerleader. While she did enroll as a literature major at Stanford University, she left school midway to pursue a full-fledged acting career.

Her first role came to her by accident. Auditioning for a bit part in 1991 for “The Man in the Moon,” Witherspoon found herself cast in the lead, a role for which she received widespread critical acclaim. The same year, she was cast in another television movie alongside Patricia Arquette, “Wildflower.” Over the next few years, Witherspoon continued to appear in film and television productions, including “Freeway” with Kiefer Sutherland in 1996 and “Pleasantville” alongside Tobey Maguire in 1999. The latter also won her the Young Hollywood Award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance. Success also came to Witherspoon from her starring role as the naïve Annette in the movie “Cruel Intentions,” in which she co-starred with her then-husband, Ryan Phillippe. Her role as Tracy Flick in the 1999 movie “Election” also led to her first Golden Globes nomination. In the same year, she also had a guest appearance in the sitcom “Friends,” as Jennifer Aniston’s sister. Following the success of “Election,” Witherspoon struggled to find suitable roles due to typecasting. It was in 2001 that she tasted massive box office success with her role in “Legally Blonde,” the first of a franchise that would establish her as a rom-com star. In 2005, she was cast as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line,” the acclaimed biopic of singer Johnny Cash, taking home her first Oscar, a Golden Globe, and other awards. Following a two-year lull, she returned with the thriller “Rendition” and followed up with romantic comedies. Following a brief relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal, she married Jim Toth, a talent agent, on March 26, 2011. Together, they have a son, born in 2012. Then, taking charge of her career, in 2012, Witherspoon launched her own production company, Pacific Standard, later part of Hello Sunshine, the media company she co-founded. Under the banner, in 2014 she produced “Gone Girl,” the acclaimed movie based on Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name. Later in the year, Witherspoon went on to produce and star in “Wild,” the Oscar-nominated biographical movie. In 2017, she also made her television debut with the series “Big Little Lies,” producing and starring in the award-winning show, and is currently starring in “The Morning Run.”

A resident of California, Witherspoon is also a doting mother to her three children, two of whom she shares with her first husband, Phillippe. Aside from being a stellar actress, Witherspoon is also a successful businesswoman and philanthropist in her own right. Her media company Hello Sunshine brings female-oriented stories to the mainstream. Channeling her love for reading, she also runs Reese’s Book Club, recommending a book each month. Showing off her multi-talented persona, Witherspoon also authored a book in 2018, “Whiskey in a Teacup,” a lifestyle publication inspired by her Southern roots. Witherspoon is also known for supporting Save the Children and the Avon Foundation, which focuses on breast cancer research and preventing domestic violence.