Reese Witherspoon Gave Super-Rare Details on the Ironic Career Advice She Got as an Actor & Young Mom

Reese Witherspoon became a mom in her early 20s, and at the same time, her career began to take off. She revealed that it was a lot all at once, but she also told fans the ironic career advice she was given at that time.

In a recent interview on an episode of The Interview podcast for The New York Times, Witherspoon talked about being a young mom in Hollywood, and how Legally Blonde changed the trajectory of her career.

She said, “I wasn’t going to beg for parts; parts were coming to me. And that almost made it scarier, because I wasn’t picking and choosing what I would reach and strive for. It was more like, what will I not do?”

But she added the twist: so many people told her to stay away from this one type of role.

“You know what the most ironic part was? I was always being told by people in the industry, ‘Don’t play a mom. It’ll make you seem old.’ And I was like, ‘But, I am a mom,’” Witherspoon added. “There was so much about our business that desexualized you, so you couldn’t be a movie star if you played a mom. And thank goodness, that’s sort of going by the wayside.”

For those who don’t know, Witherspoon and her ex-husband, Ryan Phillippe, share two children together named Ava Elizabeth Phillippe, born in Sept 1999, and Deacon, born in Oct 2003. She and Phillippe were married from 1999 to 2007.

She and her second ex-husband Jim Toth, whom she was married to from 2011 to 2023, also have a son together named Tennessee James Toth, born in Sept 2012.

Before you go, click here to see more celebrities with huge families.