REESE WITHERSPOON

Reese Witherspoon was born Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1976. Her father was a military doctor, her mother was a nurse, and she spent her first four years in Germany. Her parents then moved to Nashville, where, when she was 7, she started modeling, and soon was doing TV commercials. When she was 11, she won a talent contest. In 1990, she auditioned for a movie, The Man in the Moon, trying out for a bit part, but instead she was cast as one of the leads! I went to this movie when it came out in 1991 because I heard it was excellent (it was directed by Robert Mulligan, a fine director of bittersweet romances, and starred two fine under-rated actors, Sam Waterston and Tess Harper), and I really liked the movie, but what I most came away with was a feeling that the young girl in the movie (Witherspoon) had true star power, and had over-shadowed her accomplished co-stars! Reese made 10 movies over the next 7 years, and she stood out in each of those roles, but I thought she really broke out in 1998 and 1999 when she appeared in Pleasantville, Election, and Cruel Intentions. In 1997, she had met actor Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party, and after making Cruel Intentions together, they married. They had two children, but sadly they divorced in 2007. In 2001, Reese had a huge hit in Legally Blonde. Sometimes this kind of success can be the worst sort of thing for a hugely talented actor, for it can lead to a string of high paying roles that don't pan out, but Reese successfully has avoided that with the best performance of her career, as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, for which she rightfully won the Best Actress Oscar. This super talented actress is still young, and while she has been spending lots of time on endorsements and charitable works, I hope she continues to provide us with lots more memorable performances over the coming decades! Some of her other movies include: Wild (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), Mud, and Jack the Bear