Reese Witherspoon is everywhere these days. The Southerner and Stanford University dropout launched her Hollywood career with a starring role in the 1991 coming-of-age drama The Man in The Moon. She has since accumulated oodles of accolades for her acting, including an Academy Award for Best Actress in the 2005 Johnny Cash and June Carter biopic Walk the Line. Not only does Witherspoon appear regularly on the big and small screens, she also produces films and television shows and has a book club. Her next big venture is The Morning Show, an original Apple TV+ series coming soon. Before we dive into her next entertaining move, we want to look back at the most memorable roles of her career.
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Reese Witherspoon Roles
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10. Kate in 'Four Christmases'
The movie itself was kind of stupid and subpar, but Witherspoon proved she could hold her own as half of a comedic couple with co-star Vince Vaughn.
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9. Tracy Flick in 'Election'
In this comedic satire, Witherspoon played Tracy Flick, a perfectionist and vindictive high school student desperate to become student government president.
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8. Dani Trant in 'The Man in the Moon'
Witherspoon played a 14-year-old farm girl who develops a crush on, and shares a first kiss with, the son of a widow who moves in next door in her debut film role.
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7. Jill Green in 'Friends'
Witherspoon stole the spotlight when she appeared as the spoiled, "incredibly pretty, stupid" sister of Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) on the insanely popular '90s sitcom.
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6. Melanie Smooter in 'Sweet Home Alabama'
Witherspoon pulled from her own Southern roots in this romantic comedy. She played a newly engaged New York fashion designer who must return to her small hometown in Alabama to ask her high school sweetheart for a divorce. Watch out, 'cause this character has sass in spades.
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5. Annette Hargrove in 'Cruel Intentions'
Witherspoon played the virgin daughter of a school headmaster whom wicked Sebastian (Ryan Phillipe) bets his step-sister he can deflower in this sinister flick. Skeevy material aside, the film is perhaps best known as the start of a romance between Phillipe and Witherspoon, who later married, had children together, and then divorced.
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4. Cheryl in 'Wild'
In this dramatic adaptation of the memoir of the same name, Witherspoon played Cheryl Strayed, a writer who overcame addiction and grieved her mother's death with an epic hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Witherspoon was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for this role.
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3. June Carter in 'Walk the Line'
Witherspoon gave a charming and Academy Award-winning performance as plucky country singer June Carter in this biopic that focused on Carter's relationship with Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix).
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2. Elle Woods in 'Legally Blonde'
Witherspoon's role as Elle Woods, a seemingly ditzy but ultimately savvy law student, shot her to superstardom.
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1. Madeline Martha Mackenzie in 'Big Little Lies'
Witherspoon has untapped talent audiences haven't yet seen, but she gave us a glimpse of it in Big Little Lies, where she played a brash stay-at-home mom with a blended family and a secret side dish. This role showed that Witherspoon's range extends far beyond the blonde bimbo pigeonhole she's been stuck in for much of her career. Witherspoon can do dark, and she can go deep. Here's to her continuing evolution in the entertainment world.
