Reese Witherspoon is an American actress and producer of several films whose current net worth is $120 million. Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon, better known as Reese Witherspoon was born on March 22nd, 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA), where her parents lived, while her father was a student at Tulane University.
Her father, John Draper Witherspoon, Sr., is an otolaryngologist, born in Georgia, who previously served as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserve. Her mother, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” (Maiden Reese), was born in Harriman, Tennessee. She holds a doctorate in pediatric nursing and works as a nursing professor at Vanderbilt University.
Witherspoon claims to be a direct descendant of the Scot, John Witherspoon, signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and sixth president of Princeton University. She is also a descendant of John Knox, leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.
Career.
In 1991, when she was 14, she attended an open casting for The Man in the Moon, with some friends, with the intention of auditioning as a secondary actress. She was finally cast as the lead role for Dani Trant, a 14-year-old field girl who falls in love with her 17-year-old neighbor for the first time. Her performance was considered “memorable poignant” by Variety magazine.
For this role, Witherspoon was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress. Later, 1991, she made her debut in the television acting in the film Wildflower, directed by Diane Keaton and carried out by Patricia Arquette. In 1992, Witherspoon appeared in the television movie Desperate Choices: To Save My Child, playing a young woman in critical condition.
Global recognition (1999-2004)
In 1999, Witherspoon starred opposite Alessandro Nivola in the thriller A Perfect Plan. In that same year, she co-starred with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, who would soon become her husband, the film Cruel Intentions, a modern version of the eighteenth-century French novel Dangerous Friendships. Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick, starred in the film adaptation of the novel Election, by Tom Perrotta.
Reese portrayed Flick Tracy, a competitive and ambitious over-compliant economist, who works for the student body president. Thanks to this character, Reese could demonstrate her true talent as an actress, being Tracy Flick one of the most critically acclaimed roles, for which she won her first Golden Globe nomination for best musical-comedy actress. She also won the Best Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics and the Society of Online Film Critics and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.
2001 marked a turning point in Reese’s career; The new promise becomes Elle Woods in the film Legally blonde. Elle, a young woman who moved to Harvard University to prove to her ex-boyfriend that she was worth it and get him back with her.
Walk the Line.
2005 is the year of Reese Witherspoon. Earlier that year, Witherspoon was chosen to represent June Carter Cash, the second wife of country singer and songwriter Johnny Cash, on Walk the Line. She never had the opportunity to meet Carter Cash, as she was filming Vanity Fair at the time Carter Cash died.
The Johnny Cash’s biographical film got excellent reviews both from the audience and from the press. The awards season came to Hollywood and Reese Witherspoon took home nine of the critics ‘awards, among them the Critics’ Prize, Audience Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, BAFTA and to culminate, the Oscar as best leading actress.