Witherspoon, (Laura Jeanne) Reese (1976– )

US actor. Known both for her wholesome beauty and talent, particularly in comic roles, she began acting and modelling as a child, appearing in her first television commercial at the age of seven. She earned the 2006 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line (2005).

She made her feature film debut at the age of 14 in The Man in the Moon (1991). Major film roles include Tobey Maguire's sister in Pleasantville (1998), an ambitious student in Election (1999), a naïve schoolgirl in Cruel Intentions (2001), and a dizzy university student in Legally Blonde (2001) and its sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde (2003), which she also produced.

She was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She appeared in Jack the Bear and A Far Off Place (both 1993) before finishing high school, after which she took a break from her budding film career to study English literature at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. Other films include Fear (1996), Freeway (1996), Twilight (1998), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), and Vanity Fair (2004).

On the small screen she appeared in the cable film Wildflower (1991) and the miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove (1993). She is married to actor Ryan Phillippe, with whom she starred in Cruel Intentions. Her production company, Type A Films, is part of Universal Studios.