Reese Witherspoon
Proudly southern Reese Witherspoon was born on 22 March 1976 in New Orleans. Her acting career started when she was 15, and although she attended Stanford University as an English literature major; she dropped out after finishing her first year to pursue her passion. Hollywood has come to love her accent and it has become somewhat of a trademark.
Movies in the 90s
In 1991, she took on her first big role in The Man in the Moon (1991) where she portrayed a 14 year old girl who falls in love with a 17 year old boy. Needless to say, her performance was magical and enticing, gaining great reviews from fans and critics alike. She went on to take smaller roles in television and film along with starring in a Disney feature called A Far Off Place.
Reese as the overambitious high school girl Tracy Flick in Election.
Reese slowly built a name for herself by starring in films like Fear (1996), Pleasentville (1998) and Best Laid Plans (1999). She got some great feedback as Elizabeth in Cruel Intentions (1999) opposite Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar. The movie copied the story from Dangerous Liaisons (1998) but was set in a modern time. It was very bold in its sexuality and were a commercial success, but it never come near Dangerous Liaisons in sophistication or class. On a higher level is the third movie from the same year, the dark and creative comedy Election where Reese did the role as the high school student Tracy Flick.
Movies in the 2000s
Even though her face had become rather familiar, her real breakthrough came in 2001 with Legally Blonde as a fashion student, Elle Wood, who changes her fashion major to law in order to follow her boyfriend. It's safe to say that if anybody else played that role the movie wouldn't have generated such great success.
Her performance in Sweet Home Alabama (2002) made the movie her biggest commercial achievement and critics openly conveyed that her presence was the only thing that made the movie worth watching. Much more impressing as a film was Walk the Line in 2005 with Reese portraying the wife of Johnny Cash. She started taking more emotional roles, showing her talent in flicks such as Rendition (2007) and Devil's Knot (2013).
She is definitely a Hollywood sweetheart, but her talent to bind viewers runs deeper than just her southern accent. She can definitely be considered as a sexy appearance, but the main impressions are rather based on cleverness and she is one of the actresses who seldom agreed to nude scenes.
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