Witherspoon was born as Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon on March 22, 1976, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The daughter of a physician and a nurse, Witherspoon grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was a debutante and attended Harpeth Hall, a private all-girls high school.
Witherspoon’s career success
On the TV side alone, Witherspoon has series set up at Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and HBO, and for nearly every one, she’s hands-on from pitch to post. The shows with her onscreen all but guarantee heated bidding wars, along with lavish production budgets wherever they land.
In November, Apple launched its entire Apple TV+ content play on Aniston’s and Witherspoon’s shoulders, paying the women a reported $2 million per episode each for their contributions. Witherspoon’s first book, Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits (2018), is a cheery primer on Southern etiquette, cooking, and beauty.
In 2012, Witherspoon launched a production company called Pacific Standard, which was behind the 2014 films Gone Girl and Wild. The latter, based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed, stars Witherspoon as a woman who takes to the road after the death of her mother. Witherspoon earned rave reviews for the role, receiving Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG award nominations. In 2015 She also launched a Southern-inspired home and apparel line called Draper James.
Witherspoon relaunched her company, rechristened as Hello Sunshine, a “storytelling brand” that would venture far beyond film and TV. She parted ways with former producing partner Bruna Papandrea, and honed her pitch to speak directly to literate women across the country, and not simply on its coasts. She’d host podcasts, newsletters, YouTube videos and live events. She also launched a book club called “Reese’s Book Club” in which she reads three to four books in a week, celebrating the works of female writers like Eve Rodsky and Tembi Locke. She frequently updates her personal feeds as well, a mix of memes, set shots and the occasional peek at her three children, for her 20.5 million followers.
Los Angeles estate
The Oscar-winning actress has listed the home she shares with her husband Jim Toth in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood for $25 million. Sitting on 3.1 acres of lush land, the mansion also boasts a full outdoor entertainment area that includes a pool, spa, bar and barbeque area. The sprawling 10,000 square foot, two parcels, private estate features seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, in addition to a stunning entry hall with high ceilings, a formal living room with a wood-burning fireplace, a dining room, a family room, a huge gourmet kitchen and a stylish home office.
The actress originally paid $16 million for the property, but due to several renovations, including new flooring, she has decided to increase the price tag. Ever the savvy home-owner, she also acquired an $8.4 million home in her native Tennessee just last year, so she’s no stranger to juggling multiple properties at once.
This particular house is one of the most private properties on L.A.’s Westside, sitting on a private dead-end road and lying deep within one of Brentwood’s best-known canyons and behind a long driveway that protects the owner’s privacy.
Privacy is clearly prized in Brentwood, where an extensive roster of celebrities and moguls own homes. Stars who also own property in Brentwood include Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Brady, LeBron James, James Corden, Blake Griffin, and Scooter Braun. The house was built in 1993 and measures 10,343 square feet, but has been newly renovated which makes it move-in ready.
