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Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born
March 22, 1976), known simply as Reese Witherspoon, is
an Academy Award-winning American actress. Witherspoon
is frequently cited by media to be one of the most
beautiful leading ladies in today's cinema and her off
screen life is widely reported.
Her first role was in the made for television movie
Wildflower (1991), followed by several moderately
successful family oriented comedies and dramas in the
early-mid 1990s, and then the teenage thriller Fear
(1996), where she became something of a teen idol, or
pin-up girl. Witherspoon emerged as a young woman in
Election (1999), as a obsessive, stressful, vindictive
and overachieving teenage girl determine to win
everything she sets out to do.
Witherspoon acquired her breakout role
in Legally Blonde (2001), as a fun-loving blonde, a role
she reprised in a sequel. Witherspoon received worldwide
attention for playing June Carter Cash in Walk the Line
(2005), a role that earnt Witherspoon critical praise,
media attention and an Academy Award for Best Actress.
More recently, Witherspoon starred in Penelope,
alongside Christina Ricci, set for a mid 2007 release
date.
Seperated from actor Ryan Phillipe, Witherspoon and
Phillipe have two children together: Ava Elizabeth and
Deacon Reese.
Early life: Witherspoon was born in New Orleans,
Louisiana to John Witherspoon, a Georgia-born lieutenant
colonel in the US Army reserves and later an
ear-nose-throat surgeon, and Betty Reese, a nurse and
college professor from Harriman, Tennessee. Her birth
name was originally Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon.
Witherspoon is allegedly a direct descendant of
Scotland-born John Witherspoon, who was a signer of the
United States Declaration of Independence, a sixth
president of Princeton University, and a Presbyterian
minister. Witherspoon was raised in the Episcopalian
religion. Because her father worked for the US military
in Wiesbaden, Germany, she lived there for four years as
a small child.
After returning to the United States,
Witherspoon, an army brat, spent much of her childhood
and adolescence in Nashville, Tennessee, where, she says
in Interview magazine, "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. I grew
up with a grandma--my father's mother—who was
incredibly intelligent but was limited by the bounds of
society and propriety ... She was a voracious reader,
and she encouraged me to read a lot as a child ..."
a woman whose "depression" and
"disconnect between her capabilities and her lack
of fulfillment and achievement" continue to
motivate Witherspoon in life. After graduating from the
prestigious private all-girls' Harpeth Hall School in
Nashville, she attended Stanford University as a
literature major. She lived in Cedro Hall and once
treated her entire dorm to dinner at a Mexican
restaurant.[citation needed] After completing a year of
her studies, she left Stanford to pursue her acting
career.
Early career (1991-2000): Witherspoon's first
role was in a made-for-TV movie called Wildflower,
directed by Diane Keaton and starring Beau Bridges,
William McNamara, and Patricia Arquette. That same year,
at age 15, Witherspoon attended an open casting call for
The Man in the Moon, intending to audition as a bit
player. She was instead cast in the lead role,
immediately capturing the attention of critics. She has
since built up an impressive filmography, playing both
comedic and dramatic roles. Following the success of The
Man in the Moon, Witherspoon acted in many both lead and
supporting roles. In 1993, Witherspoon had a minor role
in Jack the Bear.
That same year, she portrayed the
leading character "Nonnie Parker" in the
Disney/Amblin film A Far Off Place. The following year,
Witherspoon acted in another leading role as "Wendy
Pfister" in the 1994 film S.F.W.. In 1996,
Witherspoon starred alongside Kiefer Sutherland and
Brooke Shields as Vanessa Lutz in the notable thriller
Freeway. Consequently, Witherspoon won Best Actress at
the Cognac Festival du Film Policier.
1998 was a successful year for Witherspoon as she made
three films: Twilight, Overnight Delivery, and
Pleasantville. In the thriller Twilight, Witherspoon
played "Mel Ames," making her first and only
nude appearance. Meanwhile, her role as
"Jennifer" in Pleasantville garnered her the
Young Hollywood Award for the "Best Female
Breakthrough Performance."
In 1999, Witherspoon's career continued as she starred
as "Lissa" in the drama thriller Best Laid
Plans. Meanwhile, she also portrayed "Annette
Hargrove" in Cruel Intentions, where she acted
alongside her future husband Ryan Philippe and Sarah
Michelle Gellar. Also in 1999, Witherspoon portrayed
Tracy Flick in Election. Although the film received good
reviews, Witherspoon noted in an interview that she
struggled to find work after completing the film. 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." Her highly praised performance
received a ranking in 2006, at #45 on the list of 100
Greatest Film Performances of All Time by Premiere
Magazine.
In 2000, Witherspoon received a supporting role in
American Psycho. In addition, she made a cameo
appearance as "Angel Holly" in Little Nicky.
Witherspoon also played Jill Greene, Rachel Greene's
sister, in season six of "Friends". Bill
Witherspoon of Hudson, her second cousin twice removed,
starred as the vagrant who was obsessed with baked
potatoes.
Breakthrough (2001-2005): After struggling to
find work for a period of time, in 2001 Witherspoon
starred as "Elle Woods", a fashion
merchandising major who decided to become a law student
to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard, in the film
Legally Blonde, resulting in her breakthrough as a
leading actress. Critics began referring to Witherspoon
as "the new Meg Ryan". The box-office hit
helped Witherspoon achieve fame. Meanwhile, critical
reviews were generally positive, with Roger Ebert
commenting that "Witherspoon effortlessly animated
this material with sunshine and quick wit".As a
result, Witherspoon garnered her first Golden Globe Best
Actress nomination for her role.
Following the success of Legally Blonde, Witherspoon
starred in a number of different roles. In 2002,
Witherspoon was the voice of the animated character
Greta Wolfcastle in The Simpsons episode The Bart Wants
What It Wants. Additionally, Witherspoon portrayed
"Cecily" in the comedy The Importance of Being
Earnest. Witherspoon received a Teen Choice Award
nomination as a result of her role. The same year,
Witherspoon starred as "Melanie
Smooter/Carmichael" in Sweet Home Alabama.
In 2003, Witherspoon followed up the success of Legally
Blonde by starring in its sequel Legally Blonde 2, where
her character became an environmental lawyer.
Reportedly, Witherspoon received a $15 million paycheck
for the sequel, making her one of Hollywood's top-paid
actresses.
Witherspoon also starred as Becky Sharp in the 2004 film
Vanity Fair, an adaptation of the classic novel by
William Makepeace Thackeray. In early 2005, Witherspoon
acted as "Elizabeth Masterson" in the romantic
comedy Just Like Heaven.
Life with Oscar (2005-present): In 2005,
Witherspoon garnered much critical praise and awards for
her turn as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. Carter
Cash, who died in 2003, had personally approved of
Witherspoon to play her in the 2005 biopic. However,
Witherspoon never had the chance to meet Carter Cash, as
Witherspoon was filming Vanity Fair when Carter Cash
died. For this role, Witherspoon won several critical
awards across the globe, including the Golden Globe
Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or
Comedy, NYFCC, the FFCC, the SFFCC Award for Best
Actress, the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) for best actress
in a lead role, the British Academy's BAFTA for best
actress in a lead role, the "Favorite Leading
Lady" at the 32nd Annual People's Choice Awards,
and the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Recently, Witherspoon has been featured as one of Time
Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. Her article was
written by friend and fellow costar in the Legally
Blonde movies, Luke Wilson.
Witherspoon also runs a production company, Type A
Productions. Some believe the company is named after her
childhood nickname "Little Miss Type A," but
she clarified the misconception in Interview:
"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."
Witherspoon has commented on her motivation to act.
"Sometimes I think it's about acknowledgment. I
always felt like people didn't understand me what I was
capable of or what I could accomplish. I was driven to
make people understand that I was capable of more ...
But for me part of the experience of acting is that it
is really moving--it's almost meditative, going into a
different character. You lose all self-consciousness and
self-awareness for that brief moment. It's really
magical. Of course, it can also be drudgery if you can't
connect with the material or director."
Personal life: Witherspoon met American actor
Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party in March 1997,
where, as she says, "I don't know what came over me
– maybe the seven Midori sours – but I told him, 'I
think you're my birthday present.' He thought it was so
flattering, and now that I think about it... how
embarrassing!" The pair got engaged in December of
1998. Soon after, the couple starred together in the box
office hit Cruel Intentions. They were married on a
plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 5,
1999. They have two children: daughter Ava Elizabeth,
born September 9, 1999, and son Deacon Reese, born
October 23, 2003.
A self-identified Southerner who has credited her family
with fomenting her imagination and love for storytelling
and privacy, she told the aforesaid magazines that her
parental philosophy has roots in her upbringing.
"We weren't the kind of children that were
shadowed. We didn't have nannies. We didn't have
housekeepers. This whole L.A. culture is so foreign to
me, because when I was growing up you wouldn't watch
your children every moment. I'm always confused when
people bring their children over and then want to sit
with them while they play. I think part of the joy of
being a child is privacy. Your fantasies and dreams are
so important to you at that moment."
Paparazzi incident: In September 2005,
Witherspoon and her children were celebrating daughter
Ava's sixth birthday at Disney's California Adventure
theme park when they were approached by paparazzi
photographer Todd Wallace. After Witherspoon declined to
pose for photos at close range, police say Wallace
became enraged and pushed a child out of the way, while
hitting another with his camera, in his efforts to
photograph the actress.
Wallace also allegedly shoved two theme park employees
when they attempted to restrain him, and cursed at
Witherspoon, causing several children to cry. As a
result of the altercation, Wallace was arrested and
faced misdemeanor charges. However, before the case went
to trial, Wallace was found dead on 5 February 2006 in
his apartment in Brentwood. Police are investigating the
cause of death, including the possibility he committed
suicide so he would not face charges.
Going Through Divorce: On November 10, 2005
Witherspoon responded to critical news reports of her
marriage counselling. "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," she said on The Oprah
Winfrey Show. The next month, she said separately,
"We are all on the edge, emotionally or
psychologically."
On June 21, 2006 Witherspoon sued the tabloid Star for
running a "fictional" story on a third
pregnancy that claims she is hiding the news from
producers of her upcoming films.On October 30, 2006,
Witherspoon and Phillippe announced that they have
decided to formally separate after seven years of
marriage. On November 8, 2006, Witherspoon filed for
divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In her
petition she sought joint legal custody of their two
children and sole physical custody, with visitation for
Phillippe. |
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