Reese Witherspoon is one of the highest paid Hollywood actresses in recent years, and she's been serving up films that are a hit with both audiences and critics.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 22, 1976, she started as a model for a florist’s television advertisement. This motivated her to take acting lessons; she eventually left Stanford University after a year to pursue acting. She auditioned for the 1990 film The Man in the Moon, intending to be cast as a bit player, but was instead chosen to play the lead Dani Trant, a 14-year-old who falls in love for the first time. In 1993, her performance in the Danny DeVito-starred film Jack the Bear won her a Young Actress Award for Best Youth Actress Co-star.
Her performances in other films—Freeway, Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville and Twilight, among others—established Reese Witherspoon as a rising star. She was nominated for her first Golden Globe for her 1999 film Election. She got international recognition, however, through the 2001 film Legally Blonde, where she plays a fashion merchandising major who takes up law at Harvard to be able to follow her ex-boyfriend. She picked up a second Golden Globe nomination for the performance.
In 2002, Reese Witherspoon appeared the film Sweet Home Alabama, opposite Josh Lucas and Patrick Dempsey. In 2003, she reprised her character as Elle Woods on the critically-derided Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde; and in 2004, she appeared in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven.
In 2005, Witherspoon appeared in the biopic Walk the Line, playing the role June Carter, the wife of Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix). Her performance was applauded by critics, and she won Best Actress honors from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA and the Academy Awards. She then appeared on the political thriller Rendition, released in 2007.