"I like people laughing at me. I'd much rather hear someone say, 'Oh, you look kind of funny' than 'Oh you're so pretty.'" ~ Reese Witherspoon
Delightful star Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon (1976-) was born in Nashville, Tennessee and won rave reviews for the depth she brought to her character in the breakthrough summer hit Legally Blonde (2001).
A girl scout and child model who appeared in television commercials, she was stood up by her date for the high school prom. Not to worry: she went anyway, with her dad, a surgeon with the Air Force.
"I handle rejection pretty well, I never take it personally," she said. "You get the jobs you were meant to get."
The talented actress made her feature film debut as Dani, a 1950s free spirit, in The Man in the Moon (1991).
"I was told to lose my (Southern) accent, or I wouldn't work that much," she confessed. "But I still have it. It comes out whenever I go back home." To prepare for her role as a California college girl in Legally Blonde, Witherspoon hung out with USC sorority girls
Witherspoon won the 2005 Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.
Reese was named the honorary chairwoman of the Avon Foundation For Women, an organization that focuses on emergency relief and breast cancer and domestic abuse awareness. In 2007, the Hollywood Reporter also named her the highest-paid actress, earning $15-20 million per movie.
An accomplished actress, a successful producer, and a working mother, Witherspoon glows passionately. "I want to do things on my own terms," she said. "I want to be one of those people who lasts in people's minds.
