Reese Witherspoon's Most Iconic Roles
From Legally Blonde to Big Little Lies, the actress has commanded the screen for decades, no matter which role she takes on.
Before she was an Academy Award winner, a fashion maven, or head of her own production company, Reese Witherspoon emerged on the Hollywood scene as an unknown actress with golden hair and a southern twang. Now a mother to two kids (her daughter/twin Ava and her son Deacon), the veteran actress has made a successful career, both in and out of the film industry.
After attending an open call for a small role in The Man in the Moon, Witherspoon's audition impressed the casting director so much that she was given the lead role, marking her acting debut. A decade later, she cemented her icon status after playing Elle Woods in the cult classic Legally Blonde. Not only is the film filled with envying fashion moments, but also several one-liners that remain in today's popular vernacular (i.e. "Bend and snap!"). Almost 20 years after its premiere, Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling are currently in the process of making Legally Blonde 3 which was scheduled to premiere in May 2022, but was pushed back due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in 2023.
The film is still slated to release, although a date has not been made public. Details regarding the plot have also been kept under wraps, with Witherspoon hinting at Elle Woods' future. “She could be a Supreme Court Justice or she could be like a really great, powerful attorney or she could be in prison. She could be anything,” she said in a 2017 interview. Many actors from the original film are set to reprise their role, including Jennifer Coolidge. "There is no Legally Blonde 3 without Jennifer Coolidge," Witherspoon said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
In 2015, the Walk the Line actress established Draper James, a clothing brand that incorporates elements of her Southern heritage into fashion for women and children, which she often shares with her Instagram followers. A year later, she founded Hello Sunshine, a media company that prioritizes telling female-focused stories. The company has produced major hits like Gone Girl and Big Little Lies, which the actress also starred in.
Over the last 30 years, Witherspoon's lofty career has birthed a number of exciting films and TV shows for fans to see her talent on full display. In celebration of one of the industry's biggest stars, L'OFFICIEL looks back at some of her best on-screen performances.
The role that started it all, 15-year-old Witherspoon made her film debut in The Man on the Moon as Dani Trant, a young girl living in Louisiana in 1957 who falls in love with her neighbor, but is heartbroken when he starts dating her older sister. The film and Witherspoon's performance were praised by critics.
After several films under her belt, the actress starred in the steamy '90s drama Cruel Intentions. Reese Witherspoon plays Annette Hargrove, a reserved recent New York transplant who navigates her budding romance with the scheming Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe). Her on-screen romance later turned into a real-life marriage with Phillippe, with whom she shares two kids, Ava and Deacon.
Reese Witherspoon received her first Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Tracy Flick, an overachieving high school senior hellbent on winning student body president. The film also stars Matthew Broderick and Chris Klein.
While most people probably remember American Psycho for Christian Bale’s harrowing performance as serial killer Patrick Bateman, Witherspoon also made an appearance as Patrick’s fiancée Evelyn, a lavish woman, unaware of her partner’s twisted crimes.
In perhaps her most famous role, Witherspoon stars in Legally Blonde as Elle Woods, a sorority-girl-turned-Harvard-law-student, determined to give the courtroom a serious fashion-friendly makeover. Her bubbly personality and bubblegum pink wardrobe were enough to earn the actress her second Golden Globe nomination, as well as spawn two sequels, the second of which is currently underway.
After running away to start a successful fashion line in New York City, Witherspoon’s newly engaged character Melanie must return home to small-town Alabama to finalize her divorce from her childhood sweetheart. It’s a heartwarming film with a star-studded cast (Patrick Dempsey, Candice Bergen, etc.). And who can forget that proposal scene in Tiffany & Co.?
In the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, the actress stars alongside Joaquin Phoenix as June Carter Cash, the country singer's longtime wife and muse. Her stunning performance garnered her Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Best Actress.
In 2014, Witherspoon pivoted to a different kind of role in Wild. The film, based on the book of the same name, follows the recently divorced Cheryl Strayed as she treks across the Pacific Coast Trail. On her 94-day journey, she reflects on her life, attempting to find a new sense of direction and purpose. Witherspoon received onslaught praise from critics, as well as Best Actress nominations at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
After accumulating a resumé stacked with movie roles, the actress was cast as Madeline Mackenzie in the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies, alongside an all-star cast including Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Shailene Woodley, and, in the second season, Meryl Streep. After single mom Jane (Woodley) moves to the wealthy town of Monterey, the group of women must work to cover up their secrets before they catch up with them. Witherspoon earned several award nominations for her character arc in the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning television series.
In one of AppleTV+'s inaugural series, two iconic actresses are united. Reese Witherspoon stars alongside Jennifer Aniston in The Morning Show as Bradley Jackson, a brazen young reporter hired to replace a longtime morning talk show anchor accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace. Witherspoon also served as one of the show's executive producers.
Her most recent role takes viewers back to the '90s in Little Fires Everywhere, a Hulu series based on the Celeste Ng novel of the same name. Witherspoon and her co-star Kerry Washington play suburban housewife Elena Richardson and nomadic artist Mia Warren. The two neighbors live in tenuous harmony before being embroiled in their friends' custody battle.
Debbie (Reese Witherspoon) and Peter (Ashton Kutcher) are long-time best friends and total opposites. She's a totally uptight mother living in LA while he's a single bachelor living in NYC. This Netflix Original rom-com, directed by Aline Brosh McKenna, follows these friends as they switch lives for a week and realize that they might have had something all along. Witherspoon was also an executive producer for the lighthearted film.
