Even redheads had to cheer when Reese Witherspoon boldly led the revenge of the blondes in the surprise summer hit Legally Blonde. Her hilarious take on sorority queen Elle Woods, who packs up her Prada shoes and heads for Harvard Law School, almost single-handedly turned a fluffy girl-world comedy into box office muscle. The film made its debut at No. 1 and earned $95 million on an $18 million budget. As a result, Witherspoon—adorable, smart and bountifully blonde—has become America's newest sweetheart. But she has also shown that she can do more than channel Goldie Hawn for the camera. "She's superwoman," says Legally Blonde's director, Robert Luketic, a fan of her riskier student role in '99's Election.
At the not-yet-ripe age of 25, Witherspoon has figured out how to balance work with marriage (in 1999 she wed actor Ryan Phillippe, 27, her costar in Cruel Intentions) and motherhood (daughter Ava is 2). "She's so young, yet she does all these things," says Luketic. "When she was pregnant, she completely stepped back from her career to nurture that baby."
A diamonds-and-pearls debutante from Nashville, Witherspoon was nicknamed Little Type A for her strong-willed personality by her father, John, 59, a surgeon, and mother Betty, 53, a nursing professor at Vanderbilt. At 14, she entered the movie business when she answered a casting call and won a starring role in the coming-of-age film The Man in the Moon, then walked away with glowing reviews. Next summer she'll play Cecily Cardew in a remake of The Importance of Being Earnest. And though she hasn't committed to it yet, a sequel to Legally Blonde is in the works. Witherspoon is "one of those very focused people who lives life according to her plans," says Victor Garber, who portrayed her professor in Blonde. Even when she sits down at the L.A. house she shares with Phillippe and Ava to watch Survivor, she sees herself as a winner. "I can cook," says Witherspoon. "And I'm the great strategist." Chances are, she'd never miss her blow-dryer.
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