In this weekend's Water for Elephants, Reese Witherspoon stars as the bewitching star performer of the Benzini Brothers Circus who is torn between her abusive husband and the gentle embrace of Robert Pattinson's pachyderm whisperer. How did Witherspoon transform herself from a brassy Louisiana teen to a graceful and multi-talented Oscar-winning actress?
For every Hollywood star, a direct line can be drawn from their humble beginnings to the current stage of their career. In honor of Water for Elephants, let's investigate nine performances that track the evolution of Reese Witherspoon.
The Man in the Moon (1991)
Witherspoon's feature film debut was actually a leading role in Robert Mulligan's 50's drama about a spunky fourteen-year-old caught in a tragic love triangle with her first-ever crush (Jason London) and her older sister (Emily Warfield). Even this early in her career, viewers can see the fiery stubbornness that Witherspoon would shelve for her later 90's work and rediscover to play June Cash Carter in Walk the Line.
[Fast forward to 1:54 for Witherspoon's scene.]
S.F.W. (1994)
From angsty young teen to one of the most angsty titles of the '90s, Witherspoon joined Jefery Levy's S.F.W. ("So Fucking What" abbreviated) as Wendy Pfister, a convenience store hostage-turned-local celebrity who falls in love with one her fellow hostages-turned-celebrity, Cliff Spab (Stephen Dorff). Roger Ebert slammed Dorff's character as "the most singularly stupid, obnoxious character I've seen on the screen in many a day - which would be promising, if he were not boring, as well." Witherspoon's inoffensive work onscreen meant that she was spared similar critical attacks. For an unimpressive film like this, that is a victory.
Freeway (1996)
Witherspoon dropped generational nonchalance for a gritty, white trashy turn in Matthew Bright's crime flick Freeway which was loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood. Witherspoon plays Vanessa Lutz, a destitute and illiterate L.A. teen who dates local gang members and steals her social worker's car to visit her grandmother. Her wholesome plan is nearly foiled by a serial killer/rapist (Kiefer Sutherland) whose unwelcome advances trigger repressed memories of a sexually abusive father. A film about an upper-class Barbie overcoming the odds to succeed at Harvard, Freeway was not.
Fear (1996)
From Freeway, Witherspoon jumped to other end of the socioeconomic spectrum to play a literate upper middle class innocent swooning over a polite hunk (Mark Wahlberg) who turns out to be an obsessive sociopath willing to carve her name into his chest, behead her dog, trash her father's car and take her family hostage just to prove his authority. Or something. Three years later, Witherspoon would perfect the role of "Wholesome Teenage Conquest in an MTV Award-Worthy Film" in Movieline's Bad Movie We Love Cruel Intentions.
Pleasantville (1998)
After Fear, Reese Witherspoon scored the role of Jennifer in Gary Ross's retro fantasy drama. As a shallow high schooler, she (and her twin brother played by Tobey Maguire) becomes trapped inside the fictional 1950's sitcom Pleasantville where her modern values influence (and literally discolor) the town's old-fashioned ideals.
[Fast forward to 0:52.]
Election (1999)
Witherspoon's role as pathological small town overachiever Tracy Flick earned the actress her first Golden Globe nod in Alexander Payne's Oscar-nominated script. Starring opposite Matthew Broderick (as an embittered high school teacher who views Flick as his mortal enemy), the actress demonstrates her ability to play potently perky, naive, lonely and emotionally damaged in one powerhouse performance.
Election (1999) by m0vietrailerpark
Legally Blonde (2001)
After proving that she could play the complicated outcast, Reese Witherspoon went mainstream for the highest grossing movie of her career at the time. In Legally Blonde, Witherspoon plays Elle Woods, a ditsy sorority girl who tries to win back her boyfriend by getting a Harvard Law degree -- only to realize that she, her true friends and a standoff-ish attorney deserve priority in her decidedly "Marilyn" life. Here, Witherspoon proved that she could carry a film and that brainy blondes who know how to accessorize are inspiring. Legally Blonde would spawn a sequel, a musical and a made-for-TV-movie produced by Witherspoon, Legally Blondes.
Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
Witherspoon starred in her first official romantic comedy a year later. As Melanie Smooter, a successful fashion designer who has to divorce her childhood sweetheart (Josh Lucas) so that she can marry the mayor's son (Patrick Dempsey) -- Melanie returns home only to revert to her stubborn Southern personality and, you guessed it, fall back in love with her first husband. This film, which is still Witherspoon's biggest commercial film success, would be the first in a string of romantic comedies for her including Just Like Heaven, Four Christmases and How Do You Know.
Walk the Line (2005)
Witherspoon made the leap from rom-com to biographical drama for her Oscar-winning turn as June Carter Cash in James Mangold's Walk the Line. She sang, she danced, she nursed Joaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash back to health and she proved to be the strongest piece in this onscreen collaboration.