Reese Witherspoon

Witherspoon was born in New Orleans, Louisiana^[2] to John Witherspoon, a surgeon from Georgia who grew up in Nashville, and Betty Reese, a nurse and college professor from Harriman, Tennessee. She is a direct descendant of Scottish-born John Witherspoon, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and sixth president of Princeton University, who was also a Presbyterian minister. 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. After completing a year of her studies, she left Stanford to pursue her acting career.

Witherspoon began her career in local commercials. Her first role was in a 1991 made-for-TV movie called Wildflower, directed by Diane Keaton and starring Beau Bridges, William McNamara, and Patricia Arquette. That same year, at age 14, 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, including performances as Vanessa Lutz in Freeway and Tracy Flick in Election. She was the voice of the animated character Greta Wolfcastle in The Simpsons episode The Bart Wants What It Wants. She also played Jill Green, Rachel Green's sister, in season six of "Friends."

She achieved fame and a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination for her role as a fashion designer major who decided to become a law student to follow her ex-boyfriend in the 2001 film Legally Blonde, and became a leading environmental lawyer in its sequel Legally Blonde 2, for which She received a reported $15 million paycheck, making her one of Hollywood's top-paid actresses.

She has garnered much critical praise and awards for her turn as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. Carter Cash, who died in 2003, personally approved of Witherspoon to play her. For this role, Witherspoon won 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.