
Reese Witherspoon
Department: Acting
Biography
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015, and Forbes listed her among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2019 and 2021. In 2021, Forbes named her the world's highest earning actress, and in 2023, she was named one of the richest women in America with an estimated net worth of $440 million. Witherspoon began her career as a teenager, making her screen debut in The Man in the Moon (1991). Her breakthrough came in 1999 with a supporting role in Cruel Intentions, and for her portrayal of Tracy Flick in the black comedy Election. She gained wider recognition for playing Elle Woods in the comedy Legally Blonde (2001) and its 2003 sequel, and for starring in the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama (2002). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for portraying June Carter Cash in the musical biopic Walk the Line (2005). Following a career downturn, during which her sole box-office success was the romantic drama Water for Elephants (2011), Witherspoon made a comeback by producing and starring as Cheryl Strayed in the drama Wild (2014), which earned her a second nomination for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. She has since worked primarily in television, producing and starring in several female-led literary adaptations under her company Hello Sunshine. These include the HBO drama series Big Little Lies (2017–2019), the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show (2019–present), and the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere (2020). For the first of these, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. She has also produced the film adaptations Gone Girl (2014) and Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), and the miniseries adaptation Daisy Jones & the Six (2023). Witherspoon also owns Reese's Book Club and a clothing company, Draper James. She is involved in children's and women's advocacy organizations. She serves on the board of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) and was named Global Ambassador of Avon Products in 2007, serving as honorary chair of the charitable Avon Foundation dedicated to women's causes.
Known For

Walk the Line
2005

American Psycho
2000

Cruel Intentions
1999

Fear
1996

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
2003

Pleasantville
1998

Rendition
2007

Freeway
1996

Sweet Home Alabama
2002

Wildflower
1991

Penelope
2007

Vanity Fair
2004

A Far Off Place
1993

Legally Blonde
2001

Four Christmases
2008

Just Like Heaven
2005

Twilight
1998

The Importance of Being Earnest
2002

Election
1999

Overnight Delivery
1998

Little Nicky
2000

S.F.W.
1995

How Do You Know
2010

Monsters vs Aliens
2009

Jack the Bear
1993

The Man in the Moon
1991

Best Laid Plans
1999

Come Home
2021

The Trumpet of the Swan
2001

Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space
2009

Being Mary Tyler Moore
2023

Water for Elephants
2011

This Means War
2012

Mud
2013

Devil's Knot
2013

Inherent Vice
2014

The Good Lie
2014

Wild
2014

You're Cordially Invited
2025

Hot Pursuit
2015

Celebrating the Man in Black: The Making of Walk the Line
2006

June
2023

Minions & More 2
2022

Desperate Choices: To Save My Child
1992

Sing
2016

Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish)
2020

Everything Is Copy
2015

A Wrinkle in Time
2018

Home Again
2017

Gunter Babysits
2017

Monsters vs Aliens Stories
2013

This Changes Everything
2019

Sing 2
2021

My Darling Vivian
2020

Your Place or Mine
2023

Her Effortless Brilliance: A Celebration of Lynn Shelton Through Film and Music
2020

Becoming
2020

Dreamworks Spooky Stories
2012

Election - Reese Witherspoon
2017

Friends: The Reunion
2021

Wish List
—

Legally Blonde 3
—

I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash
2005

9 Kisses
2014

The Simpsons
1989

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003

Friends
1994

King of the Hill
1997

LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988

Today
1952

The View
1997

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992

American Idol
2002

Return to Lonesome Dove
1993

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993

Revealed with Jules Asner
2001

Freedom: A History of Us
2003

The Mindy Project
2012

Freedom: A History of Us
2003

Tiny Trailblazers
—

Freedom: A History of Us
2003

The Oscars
1953

TRL
1998

The View
1997

The Drew Barrymore Show
2020

The Muppets
2015

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003

Big Little Lies
2017

Rove
1999

The Graham Norton Show
2007

Chelsea
2016

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014

Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014

My Kind of Country
2023

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014

Shine On with Reese
2018

Teen Choice Awards
1999

Saturday Night Live
1975

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009

People's Choice Awards
1975

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014

Little Fires Everywhere
2020

The Morning Show
2019

Entertainment Tonight
1981

Nature Is Speaking
2015

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015

Fierce Queens
2020

Get Organized with The Home Edit
2020

Conan
2010

The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973

The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019

Family Recipe Showdown
2025

DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection
2003

F1: The Academy
2025

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
2009

Late Show with David Letterman
1993

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015

The Daily Show
1996