Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.) is an American actress who has appeared in a wide range of genres but is perhaps best known for her romantic comedies, in which she often portrayed charming yet determined characters. Witherspoon won an Academy Award for best actress for her portrayal of June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (2005).

Early career: Pleasantville and Cruel Intentions

Witherspoon’s father was a U.S. Air Force doctor, and the family lived in West Germany for several years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee. As a child, she worked as a model and appeared in commercials. In 1991 she made her big-screen debut, portraying a tomboy in The Man in the Moon. That coming-of-age drama was critically acclaimed, and Witherspoon garnered accolades for her performance.

Other roles followed, including a supporting role on the television miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove (1993), before Witherspoon took a break from acting to briefly attend Stanford University in 1994–95. Resuming her career, she appeared in such notable films as the dark crime comedy Freeway (1996), which was inspired by the Grimm’s fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood”; Pleasantville (1998), a comedy centering on teenaged siblings in the 1990s who become trapped in a 1950s TV sitcom; and Cruel Intentions (1999), a modern take on the 18th-century novel Dangerous Liaisons, set in high school. The latter film costarred Ryan Phillippe, to whom she was married from 1999 to 2008.

Britannica Quiz

Oscar-Worthy Movie Trivia

Election and Legally Blonde

In 1999 Witherspoon earned rave reviews for her portrayal of Tracy Flick, an overly ambitious high-school student running for class president, in Alexander Payne’s black comedy Election. The following year she was cast against type as the girlfriend of a serial killer (played by Christian Bale) in the violent satire American Psycho, an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s controversial novel. Also in 2000 Witherspoon had a memorable turn as the sister of Jennifer Aniston’s character on the popular television series Friends, and she provided a voice on the animated series King of the Hill.

Returning to the big screen, Witherspoon had her first major box-office hit with Legally Blonde (2001), a romantic comedy in which she played Elle Woods, a spoiled sorority girl who follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School; she reprised the role for the 2003 sequel. During that time she also appeared in the hugely popular comedy Sweet Home Alabama (2002) and in several adaptations, notably The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), which was based on the play by Oscar Wilde.

Walk the Line and Wild

Witherspoon turned to more serious fare with Walk the Line (2005), an acclaimed biopic of country singer Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix). For the role of June Carter, she learned to sing and to play the autoharp, and her commitment to the part helped Witherspoon win an Academy Award for best actress. She then appeared in a series of romantic comedies, including the box-office hit Four Christmases (2008) and the less-seen How Do You Know (2010) and This Means War (2012).

In 2011 Witherspoon starred in the Depression-era drama Water for Elephants, portraying a performer in a traveling circus who is caught in a love triangle (Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz). Better received was Mud (2012), in which she had a supporting role as the girlfriend of a troubled loner (Matthew McConaughey) who befriends two boys.

Are you a student?

Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.

Subscribe

Continuing with dramatic roles, Witherspoon appeared in The Good Lie (2014) as a job recruiter who helps Sudanese refugees who have relocated to the United States and in Wild (2014) as a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail in an effort to overcome the effects of a series of tragedies. The latter film was adapted from the memoir by Cheryl Strayed, the rights to which Witherspoon had purchased through her production company, Pacific Standard. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress.

In Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice (2014), adapted from the comic crime noir by Thomas Pynchon, she played the love interest of a private investigator (Joaquin Phoenix). The farcical Hot Pursuit (2015) featured Witherspoon as a straight-laced police officer who must protect the widow of a criminal. She later supplied the voice of a pig who enters a singing contest in the animated film Sing (2016) and its sequel (2021).

Big Little Lies and The Morning Show

In 2017 Witherspoon portrayed an overachieving mother in the HBO series Big Little Lies, adapted from Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel; her costars included Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, and Zoë Kravitz. Later that year Witherspoon appeared in the romantic comedy Home Again. She then played the role of Mrs. Whatsit in the 2018 film adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s acclaimed 1962 sci-fi novel, A Wrinkle in Time. In 2019 Witherspoon reprised her role in Big Little Lies for a second season. Later that year The Morning Show, a series on Apple TV+, made its debut. It featured Witherspoon as a news reporter and also starred Aniston and Steve Carell.

In 2020 Witherspoon appeared in the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere, which was based on Celeste Ng’s novel about racial tensions and classism in an affluent suburb. She later starred with Ashton Kutcher in the romantic comedy Your Place or Mine (2023).

Hello Sunshine and other activities

In 2016 Witherspoon cofounded Hello Sunshine, a media company that focuses on content for women. The venture found particular success with books, creating Reese’s Book Club and optioning the rights to many of the selections. Where the Crawdads Sing, Daisy Jones & the Six, Little Fires Everywhere, and The Last Thing He Told Me are some of the notable adaptations. In addition, Witherspoon’s production company, Pacific Standard, became a subsidiary. In 2021 Hello Sunshine was sold for $900 million, though Witherspoon continued to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.

Witherspoon’s first book, Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits (2018), is a cheery primer on Southern etiquette, cooking, and beauty.