Five Things You Didn’t Know about Reese Witherspoon

69th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals

Reese Witherspoon is an accomplished American actress with an estimated net worth of $80 million. Witherspoon has been in show business for over 20 years. During that span she’s appeared in over 30 films and 5 television shows. Her first big break came in 1991 in the film The Man in the Moon. Witherspoon’s first major hit was in the movie Legally Blonde in 2001. That movie represented a real turning point in Reese’s career as her next several movies all proved to be commercial successes. Perhaps Reese’s most successful personal role to date was her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. Witherspoon won an Academy Award, Golden Globe and several other awards for her performance. Off the camera, Witherspoon has received plenty of attention as well. Her highly publicized marriage and subsequent divorce to actor Ryan Phillippe earned her just as much attention as her movie roles. Reese has also been the center of some highly controversial media reports including an arrest on 2013. Overall, Reese has built herself a nice career in film and has found stability off-camera.

Those are the basics we know about Reese Witherspoon, here’s what you may not know…

Legally Blonde Was No Fluke

Sure in the movie Witherspoon played a ditzy blonde who “made it” as a lawyer, but that was no fluke. Reese attended Stanford University and studied English literature there. Unfortunately, she didn’t finish four consecutive years are Stanford and left after her first year, but she still gained admission, which is no fluke.

Extra Turned Star

Before Witherspoon attended Stanford University she answered a local ad in her newspaper for extras in the movie The Man in the Moon. The call for extras actually worked out for her as she wasn’t just given a chance as an extra, but earned a main role that started her career in acting.

Neat Historical Fact

A lot of famous people come from nice lineages and Reese is no different. Her ancestor, John Witherspoon, has an interesting place in United States history. John Witherspoon was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Pretty cool fact.

Lifestyle Company

Witherspoon isn’t just an actress, producer and model. She does a fair share of entrepreneurial activity off the camera. Her latest project is a lifestyle company with former C. Wonder president Andrea Hyde serving as her president. The company, Draper James, is targeting a 2015 launch into retail stores across the country. Draper James intends to sell a variety of goods including bed and bath products, cosmetics, stationery and kitchenware.

Jake Gyllenhaal

What’s relatively common knowledge around the tabloids, Witherspoon dated Jake Gyllenhaal for a couple years after her divorce to Ryan Phillippe. The couple when public after her divorce was finalized in 2007. They dated for two years and allegedly broke up in December of 2009. The met on the set of the movie Rendition. Witherspoon is now married to Jim Toth, who is a talent agent and co-head of motion picture talent at Creative Arts Agency.

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images

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