From the VFArchive: ‘Legally Blonde’ might have made Reese Witherspoon a star on paper, but ever since she was a young girl, she knew she was going to shine.
She did, however, attend Harpeth Hall, the prestigious girls' school in Nashville, whose famous alumnae include Minnie Pearl, of the Grand Ole Opry, and Amy Grant, the Christian pop singer. A Girl Scout, a cheerleader, and a debutante, Reese was destined to be your average beautiful southern belle.
Reese took her last acting class when she was seven."My parents were always incredibly supportive," she says."They thought it was a hobby for the first four years." In 1990, Robert Mulligan, the director ofabout a girl coming of age in the South in the 1950s, and Reese lined up with all the other townies to land a part as an extra. In short order she landed the lead.
Witherspoon reminds me of that girl in high school all the rest of us were a little scared of but at the same time in awe of—so pretty, so smart, so together that it made your day if she just said hi as she passed you in the hall. Then when you run into her 10 years later, you realize that she was only a normal girl with insecurities just like yours."I feel really comfortable in my skin now and comfortable with the choices I've made in my career," she says.
Witherspoon admits that she has few close friends, but most of the ones she does have she has had for a long time and is fiercely loyal to."I'm really discerning about whom I let into my life," she says. Afterwas released, she recalls,"people were really scared of me and would walk around me because they thought I was Tracy Flick. And part of me is like that character. I think there is no way to hide parts of yourself. There is a reason you're attracted to roles.
Most people at Witherspoon's age are still trying to figure out what they want to do when they grow up. I ask her if you pay a price for having the drive to arrive where you want to be when you're so young."My parents used to call me Little Type A," she says. "I was always very busy and driven. Part of that is great, and part of that can tear you up. . . Why, at the age of 14, did I decide to become a professional? I was so driven to balance my own checkbook.
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