Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon, born March 22, 1976,
was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. Considering both of her parents
held occupations in the medical field, Reese grew up expecting
to become a doctor, although she always knew in her heart that
she wanted to be an actress.
While growing up in Nashville, a hot spot especially known for
its country-music talent, Reese was exposed to the entertainment
industry at a very early age. Her career in the spotlight began
at 7 years of age when she was introduced to the world of modeling.
This exposure eventually enabled her to break onto the small screen
by appearing in several television commercials.
After winning a ten-state talent search, Reese began to receive
recognition for her acting and modeling abilities. At the age
of fourteen, she landed her first lead acting role in Robert Mulligan's
The Man in the Moon. This role in particular kick-started Reese's
film career, and soon after, she found herself starring in two
more made-for-TV movies: 1991's Wildflower and Desperate Choices:
To Save My Child one year later.
Upon completion of high school, Reese began receiving offers
to appear in higher caliber films, including Jack the Bear (alongside
Hollywood heavyweights Danny DeVito and Gary Sinise) and Disney's
A Far Off Place, both of which were released in 1993. The following
year, Reese decided to put her acting career on hold for a little
while, and enrolled in Stanford University to major in English
Literature.
This decision to pursue her studies was curbed shortly thereafter,
when she accepted to star in two more big-screen productions --
both of which were slated for 1996 release dates. First came Fear,
in which she portrayed a frightened teenager terrorized by her
psychotic boyfriend (Mark Wahlberg, in one of his earlier roles).
In the second film, Freeway, she was cast alongside Kiefer Sutherland,
in yet another dramatic role as a victimized teenager. Both roles
pushed Reese well beyond her prior acting experiences and ultimately
opened new doors for her as a rising starlet in Hollywood.
The following years found Reese starring in more prestigious
film projects. In 1998, she appeared opposite legendary screen
icons Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Susan Sarandon in Robert Benton's
Twilight and later that year she starred in Pleasantville along
with fellow up-and-comer Tobey Maguire.
1999 was a big year for Reese in more ways than one. Her career
was elevated to an even higher level by starring in two more box-office
hits, Cruel Intentions (with Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Election
(Reese wowed critics with her dark comedic performance in the
latter). While filming Cruel Intentions, Reese and co-star Ryan
Phillippe became involved in a serious off-screen romance, which
eventually led to their engagement in March of 1999. The pair
married on June 5, 1999, in South Carolina and announced shortly
thereafter that they were expecting their first child in the coming
months.
After a brief break from the acting scene, Reese returned in
February of 2000 with a guest spot on the hit NBC sitcom, Friends.
She starred in a few episodes as the younger sister of Rachel
(played by Jennifer Aniston). Later on that year, she reappeared
on the big screen in two more films, American Psycho and Little
Nicky. She had relatively small roles in both films, however,
in 2001, she once again found herself starring as the leading
lady in Legally Blonde.
She played Elle Woods in the hit movie Legally Blonde which was
about a blonde sorority queen (Reese) who is dumped by her boyfriend,
she decides to follow him to law school to get him back and, once
there, learns she has more legal savvy than she ever imagined.
She then moved on the the movie "The Importance of Being
Earnest" where she played 'Cecily'. the movie was about Two
young gentlemen (Rupert Everett & Colin Firth) living in 1890s
England use the same pseudonym ("Earnest") on the sly,
which is fine until they both fell in love with the same woman
(Reese) women using that name.
Reese then went on to star in the hit movie Sweet Home Alabama
where she plays a young woman with a white trash background runs
away from her husband in Alabama and reinvents herself as a New
York socialite.
Reese is currently keeping herself extremely busy by juggling
marriage, motherhood and her career.
Reese recently started her own production company called Type
A Films and is currently overseeing three projects intended as
starring vehicles: an adaptation of Melissa Bank's 1999 book,
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing, scripted by Marc Klien
(Serendipity); an adaptation of the 1960's TV show Honey West,
about a private investigator; and a movie that centres on professional
women's tennis. Reese certainly is a very talented actress and
a great role model as well.
After the huge success of the hit Legally Blond in 2001 the second
series had to follow "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White &
Blonde" Of course Reese is the main character again and is
the sassy postgrad Elle Woods cares about animal rights. In fact,
she puts her nuptial plans on hold to head to Washington D.C With
a new record earing for a film of $15,000,000 and also having
the opportunity as a director she is sure to poise herself as
one of the most talented rising stars of the new mellenium.
