Reese Witherspoon Walks the Line of Motherhood

Reuters/Landov

Reese Witherpoon — who shot to fame in 2006 after winning the Best Actress Academy Award for Walk The Line — opened up about a different line entirely during a Friday appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: The line between being a friend and being a mom to her two kids Ava Elizabeth, 9, and Deacon Reese, 5. “I say lots of mom things, all sorts of things I never thought I would say,” she admitted. “Like, you know, I’m not your friend — I’m your mother.” Reese added,

“It’s not nice sometimes to be a mom, you have to be really tough. It is a very fine line. You can’t cross over it. Otherwise, they might think they’re winning.”

Elaborating on earlier comments that her kids have — at times — thought of her as “a huge dork,” the 33-year-old actress said that when she’s being embarrassing, Ava isn’t shy about letting her know. “My daughter is good, because she’ll articulate it: ‘You’re embarrassing me. Please stop singing in front of my friends,’” Reese revealed. Deacon, on the other hand, is prone to giving dirty looks to get his point across!

“That’s his non-verbal sign to stop talking about him. I’m such a mom. I’m like, ‘What? What do you mean?’”

Ava and Deacon are Reese’s children with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. Her new movie Monsters vs. Aliens is in theaters now.

Source: The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Comments

Lauren on March 29th, 2009

Reese comes across as such a great mom!

emma on March 29th, 2009

she seems like such a good mother. Ava Elizabeth is such a nice name and so is Deacon and it is nice Deacon has his mums middle names seeing as Reece can be girl/boys name

Jaclyn on March 29th, 2009

“Reese Witherpoon — who shot to fame in 2006..”

Hmm, I think most people agree that Legal Blonde was the role the catapulted her into a different level of fame than Election or Cruel Intentions, etc. and that was 2001.

SH on March 29th, 2009

has anyone seen monsters vs. aliens? is it good?

Natasha on March 29th, 2009

Emma I also think Reese is a family name because her real name is Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon (or something close to that). So Reese may be like her mother’s maiden name or something.

JMO on March 29th, 2009

SH I haven’t seen it but 7 1/2 year old nephew did yesterday and he said it was really funny!

I saw this interview and Reese’s facial expressions to describe her son’s “non verbal communication” was hilarious! I hope she knows that Deacon isn’t the only child out there that does that!!

michelle on March 29th, 2009

Everyone has to go through embarrassing parent moments. I think it’s hilarious. Love her!

Stephany on March 29th, 2009

Jaclyn, I thought the same thing. I don’t necessarily see Walk The Line as her “shooting to fame,” as she was famous for her role in Legally Blonde and possibly Cruel Intentions before then. Walk The Line did establish her as a serious actress, I think, with her winning the Academy Award and all.

Anyway, I love Reese and her approach to motherhood. And her kids are just way too cute!

Lucy on March 29th, 2009

Yes, Reese is her mother’s maiden name.
I think it would be so weird to call your daughter by your old surname though!

It also happens with Reese the volley ball (?) star.

Sam on March 29th, 2009

Jaclyn, I agree with you. She was definitely A-list before Walk the Line.

Jeanette on March 29th, 2009

I also agree she didn’t shoot to fame with Walk the Line. I wouldn’t think anyone who has an IMDB filmography dating back to ’91s Man in the Moon with Jim Carrey “shot to fame” for an award in 2006.
Certainly ’98s Pleasantville, as well as ’99s Election and Cruel Intentions may not have been as serious of roles or as big box office draws, but they were nothing to sneeze at. Follow that with appearances in Friends, ’01s huge draw with Legally Blonde as has been mentioned, then many others not limited to Sweet Home Alabama, The Importance of Being Earnest, Legally Blonde 2, Vanity Fair, Just Like Heaven . . .
I think it’s kind of insulting to say she shot to fame in 06 when she’d already had other box office successes and other serious roles as well. Besides, shot to fame kind of has the connotation of quick success, when she had plenty of roles in the ’90s working her way up – Jack the Bear, Far Off Place, Wildflower . . .

Lisa on March 29th, 2009

Jeanette, I agree with what you’re saying, but FYI 1991′s Man in the Moon wasn’t with Jim Carrey. In 1999 Jim Carrey was in Man on the Moon, two different movies.
Definitely a bad choice of wording with “shot to fame”. Reese has been one of the most popular actresses long before 2006. Yes, 2006 was a huge year for her and certainly upped her profile. But, it is insulting to say that until 2006 she wasn’t being taken seriously.

Jeanette on March 30th, 2009

My mistake about the Man in the Moon/Man on the Moon. Good catch. All those other movies though before Walk the Line!

Jane on March 30th, 2009

She seems like a great mother, and she takes it really seriously. I’m sure her children will grow up happy and healthy.

Lis on March 30th, 2009

Reese is too cute. I so agree that you have to “be a mother, and not a friend”.