Reese Witherspoon is one of the most commercially astute and dramatically versatile actresses of her generation, a performer who parlayed a string of defining nineties and early two thousands roles into a production empire that has reshaped the landscape for female-driven stories in Hollywood and on streaming. She broke through with Legally Blonde (2001) and went on to a career that includes Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Walk the Line (2005), Wild (2014), and Big Little Lies (2017), winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Walk the Line. Her production company Hello Sunshine has generated more opportunities for women in front of and behind the camera than almost any individual actress-led initiative in the industry’s recent history.

On screen, Witherspoon has always operated with a precision and a comic intelligence that her sunniest roles tend to obscure, and the best material she has chosen lets both qualities surface at once. The blond hair, the wide smile, and a face that photographs with a deceptive sweetness she has spent her career using against audience expectations give her a screen presence that is most interesting when a role asks her to be determined and a little ruthless beneath the charm. She remains one of the few actresses of her generation who functions simultaneously as a major star, a serious dramatic performer, and the most powerful producer of women’s stories working in American television.