20 Pics Of Reese Witherspoon And 18-Year Old Daughter Ava Looking Like Sisters

Quick Links

'Like mother like daughter' is a saying that could not be better fitting when you look at these two. Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava is the spitting image of her beautiful mother, and somehow manages to become more and more alike with every year that passes. But what is it like growing up the daughter of a famous actress? And what is it like looking almost identical to your own mother?

Most mother-daughter relationships go through the same stages. From having been inseparable, the daughter suddenly wants to have her own space, and distance herself from her mother. It's a natural part of growing up and shaping your own identity and finding yourself. But how do you do that when you're the daughter of freaking Reese Witherspoon?

A mother is also your best friend, your biggest cheerleader and supporter, and from what we know about Reese Witherspoon, she has a big heart, and is an incredibly giving person. Surely there is always a difference between the public persona of a famous person and the 'real' person their family and friends know, but it can be said with a fair amount of certainty that Ava has a great role model in her mother.

We've taken a closer look at the gorgeous, successful Southern belle and her equally beautiful daughter, and in order to do so, we've gone all the way back. Yeah, like Cruel Intentions back. We know they look very much alike, but what are the other similarities and differences between the two?

20. Sweet Home Louisiana

Reese Witherspoon was born Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her name Reese is her mother's maiden name and her mother, Mary Elizabeth, is a professor of nursing. Witherspoon's father, Dr. John Draper Witherspoon, worked for the U.S military which made the family live in Germany for four years, though after that she grew up in Nashville with her older brother John.

She has stated in interviews that her southern upbringing and Episcopalian beliefs is not only something she is very proud of, it also gave her a strong foundation in regards to tradition, family, being polite and responsible and never taking anything for granted.

In school she was the traditional all American girl, a cheerleader, a type-A person and a high achiever, something we still can agree she is. After graduating high school she attended Stanford University, as an English literature major, though she left school to further pursue her acting career. Smart move for a smart girl as we think she has no regrets dropping out of college.

19. The Beginning Of Reese's Career

Witherspoon did a few smaller jobs when she was little. At age seven she was picked out to be a part of a television ad which gave her the motivation to begin taking acting lessons. In 1991 Reese went to an open casting call for a minor role, but managed to land the lead! Her performance earned her a nomination for best young actress at the Young Artist Awards.

After that she had roles in both tv-series and got leads in movies such as Fear and Freeway, performances that both established her as a rising star in Hollywood and with the experience she got she has said in an interview that she “felt like she could try anything”. In 1998 Witherspoon got major roles in three movies: Overnight Delivery, Pleasantville (starring together with Tobey Maguire) and Twilight (no not the one with Bella and Edward).

It was with Cruel Intentions where she co-starred with Sarah-Michelle Gellar (yay Buffy!) and her future (ex-)husband Ryan Phillippe and the movie Election where she gained more prominence in Hollywood. Though Witherspoon found a hard time due to type-casting, she still managed to get roles in American Psycho and as Rachel’s little sister in the TV show Friends.

18. The Legend That Is Elle In Legally Blonde

In 2001 Reese Witherspoon had her big breakthrough playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. The film is based on a novel with the same title, and it earned Witherspoon her second Golden Globe nomination. The comedy tells the story about sorority girl Elle Woods who decides to pursue a law degree at Harvard Law School to impress her ex-boyfriend who dumped her with the words "I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn." Ouch! Witherspoon received tons of positive reviews for her part, with some critics saying her 'funny, nuanced performance makes this movie better than it would have been'.

Despite being a light-hearted comedy, Legally Blonde has definitely reached a cult status today. It also seems as if though Witherspoon herself has a soft spot for the film since she on several occasions have quoted the movie on her social media channels. The film, and particularly Witherspoon's character Elle Woods, have also inspired women all over the world to believe in themselves and their abilities. Witherspoon said to The Wall Street Journal: "At least once a week I have a woman come up to say to me and say, ‘"I went to law school because of Legally Blonde"". Case closed!

17. New Queen of Romcoms

After her massive success with Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon was offered roles in a number of different types of films. One of the more notable being the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama where she played alongside actors Patrick Dempsey and Josh Lucas. The film became her biggest box office hit and was a huge public success, but critics were less positive about the movie calling it both dull and predictable. Reese Witherspoon, however, was given praise for her part, with the press basically giving her all the credit for the film's success.

She then repeated her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, but the film was not as successful as its predecessor. Again it seemed as if the critics neither liked the movie nor the plot, but they still acknowledged Witherspoon's talent although they found it wasted on lousy dialogue. Reese Witherspoon still walked away with a $15 million pay check for the role, which cemented her place as one of the highest earning actresses in Hollywood.

The following year Witherspoon starred in the film Vanity Fair, a film that received mixed reviews from the critics. Witherspoon received mixed reviews as well with some critics even stating that she had been miscast for her role.

16. Her Oscar Winning Role As June

And then there was June. In 2005 Reese Witherspoon was chosen to portray June Carter in the film about country singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, Walk the Line. The film is a biographical drama about the early life and career of Johnny Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and Witherspoon plays the role of his second wife.

Reese Witherspoon has admitted in interviews that the most challenging part of the role was the singing, and performing her own vocals in front of a live audience in the film. Her nerves even had her ask her lawyers to terminate the contract, but we're happy she didn't! And she even went on to win a Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild, a BAFTA award and the Academy Award for Best Actress in a lead role. Because she had never sung professionally before, Witherspoon spent six months taking singing lessons to perfect the role, and it more than paid off.

Walk the Line was a tremendous success, and claimed the title of the highest grossing music biopic until 2015. Witherspoon has said she feels very passionate about the film and has also expressed her admiration for June Carter and how she finds her being a woman ahead of her time.

15. Getting Married At Just 21 Years-Old

In 1997, on her 21st birthday party, Reese Witherspoon met fellow actor Ryan Phillippe. Ryan Phillippe was a 90's teenage heartthrob, who had his big breakthrough in the hit horror movie I Know What You Did Last Summer in 1997. The couple began dating, and starred together in another cult 90's movie, Cruel Intentions in 1998, and fell utterly in love with one another both on and off screen. One year later the young couple got married, and the same year they welcomed their first child, their daughter Ava. In 2003 the couple had their second child, this time a son who was given the name Deacon.

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe were definitely couple goals. Gorgeous, talented, and with two adorable children - so it came as a big shock when the couple officially announced their separation in 2006. So, what happened? Right after the divorce, rumors were going around saying Phillippe couldn't handle his wife becoming so successful, and specifically more successful than he was. The stars have both said about their marriage that the main reason for their divorce was that they were both so young when they got together. They have also, understandably, said that having a relationship in the public eye creates a lot of stress.

14. After Playing The Character Of June

After the tremendous success with Walk the Line, Witherspoon's career seemed to get stuck. She starred in a number of movies that didn't become even close to the success of her previous work, and she has said later on that this period coincided with her divorce and she didn't feel passionate about the work that she was doing. The movies following Walk the Line were received with mixed reviews, and she was even criticized for being 'surprisingly lifeless' in her role as Isabella El-Ibrahim, the pregnant wife of a bombing suspect, in the movie Rendition.

She did have a box office success with the holiday comedy Four Christmases where she played alongside Vince Vaughn. Critics were not positive about the movie, but the public seemed to love it as it earned over $157 million worldwide. After Four Christmases Reese Witherspoon did not appear in any films for two years. She has said that this break was unplanned, she merely did not find any movies she loved or felt that she was a fit for.

Between the years 2010 and 2012 we could see Witherspoon back on the screen with movies like Water For Elephants and This Means War, neither of which turned out to be a significant hit with neither the critics nor the public.

13. Finding Love Again

In early 2010 the news broke of Reese Witherspoon dating talent agent Jim Toth. Witherspoon has said about how the two met, that he became her knight in shining armor when an intoxicated man was hitting on her in a bar. It turned out to be Toth's friend, but he quickly saved the situation and began chatting with the gorgeous blonde actress. Whatever he said, it worked, because later that very same year the couple got engaged. In 2011 the lovebirds got married on the actress's California ranch, with prominent Hollywood actors and actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Penn, and Kate Hudson amongst others on the guest list. One year later Witherspoon and Toth welcomed their first child together, a son who they named Tennessee.

Jim Toth has represented big names in the movie industry, such as Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey and Robert Downey, Jr., and although his name didn't mean much to us mere mortals before Reese Witherspoon married him, he is a Hollywood bigshot.

Witherspoon has said in interviews that her husband inspires her and pushes her to aim higher, and people around her say that he has changed her for the better. He's completely blown her away with his kindness.

12. Big Little Lies

Perhaps partially due to her husband's encouragement and support Reese Witherspoon ventured out from her acting career in 2012 when she started a production company. She was tired of only seeing movies with an all-male perspective and wanted to focus on stories for and about women, with strong female leads. The production company is called Pacific Standard and has so far produced the movies Wild, in which Witherspoon also starred, and Gone Girl. Both films received positive feedback from critics, and for her performance in Wild, Witherspoon received her second Academy Award nomination.

In 2016 Reese Witherspoon returned to filming a television project called Big Little Lies, a seven-part series based on the novel of the same name. She produced and starred in the mini-series together with actress Nicole Kidman, and other notable actors are Laura Dern, Alexander Skarsgard and Zoë Kravitz. The show was a massive success, winning several Emmy's and Golden Globe awards, and has - despite initially being a mini-series - been renewed for a second season. We can't wait!

Witherspoon has since then also produced the movie Home Again, as well as starred in star-studded Disney production A Wrinkle In Time alongside Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling among others.

11. My Black is Navy

When you think of Reese Witherspoon's fashion style, you probably think of a colorful, preppy, Southern girl look. She is not afraid of wearing vibrant colors and bold floral patterns, and isn't that actually so refreshing to see? The gorgeous blonde can more than pull it off too, and media is always dying to see what she's wearing during award season or on the red carpet.

About her love for colors, Witherspoon has said that she considers wearing black is for funerals. She grew up not allowed to wear black until she was fifteen years old and bought her very first pair of black trousers. In her family, Witherspoon explains, "We don't do black. Our black is navy".

If you want to copy Reese's Witherspoon style, understanding and adapting the Southern element is crucial. Matching your shoes with your handbag, and coordinating different pieces of the outfit are easy ways to get the look. Overall, Witherspoon typically rocks a pulled together look which is feminine, colorful, but never over the top or revealing. Match your vibrant, colorful dress with a navy blue shoe, and you're nearly there. Just remember, whatever you do, stay away from anything of the color black!

10. Giving Back Is Important

Besides inspiring and empowering women through her acting and production work, Reese Witherspoon is also very actively involved in women's and children's advocacy organizations. She has been supporting the organization Save the Children for a very long time and is a board member of the child advocacy and research group Children's Defense Fund. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2006, Witherspoon joined a group of actresses in going to New Orleans, Louisiana with the goal of drawing awareness to the needs of the victims of the natural disaster.

In 2007 Reese Witherspoon became the first global ambassador of cosmetics company Avon Products. Besides acting as a spokeswoman for Avon's products and appearing in commercials and advertisements, Witherspoon is also the honorary chair of the Avon Foundation. The Avon Foundation is a charity organization with their primary focus being to prevent domestic violence and generate awareness for breast cancer. Reese Witherspoon has said, "as a woman and a mother I care deeply about the well being of other women and children throughout the world and through the years, I have always looked for opportunities to make a difference."

Witherspoon has also shared how she with her family pick a charity organization each year and spend that year investing in the project. A great way to help, and also to teach her children about the importance of giving back.

9. Founded Her Own Lifestyle Bran Draper James

Witherspoon founded Draper James that is her lifestyle brand and the brand describes itself as “Bringing contemporary, timeless Southern style to your wardrobe and your home”. Cute! The name is from the two people that has been her greatest influences in life, that taught her everything she knows about gracious Southern living; her grandmother, Dorothea Draper and her grandfather, William James Witherspoon.

The very core of the company is to honor the Southern heritage Witherspoon is famous for and very proud about and the philosophy for Draper Jones is to bring contemporary, yet timeless Southern style to your wardrobe and your home, no matter where you live. She said “ I wanted to recapture and celebrate all that I love and remember about my grandparents and the South. That is why I created Draper James”.

Not only is Witherspoon famous for dressing and acting like a lady, she also takes pride in her home, and that is also what her vision is for her brand, to represent the Southern lifestyle and also giving back. Draper Jones also work together with Girls Inc in supporting “young women in their paths to becoming future leaders, entrepreneurs, and agents of social change. That’s what we call a MOM BOSS!

8. Motherhood Was Challenging

That Reese seems to be an amazing mother is clear to see when you look at what she’s saying in interviews about her children and motherhood, she has said ‘We're all trying to be the best parents we can be' and doesn’t that just hit the nail on the head really. In a panel for Television Critics Association speaking about her role in *Big Little Lies” Witherspoon talked about the differences she experienced with having kids at different ages and stages in life. Having her first two kids, Ava and Deacon at only 22 and 27, she said that it was completely different than when she had her son Tennessee at 37. When she was a first time mom, she was just like any other mother, not having a clue of what she was doing

Witherspoon has said about motherhood that “Having kids made me clearer about who I was as a woman” but that parenthood is not what she thought it would be. Though Reese's children were more or less born into Hollywood, with being so down to earth and relatable, we definitely think she is a Boss Mom that knows what’s she’s doing and manages to balance work and family perfectly.

7. The Birth Of Daughter Ava

Ava Phillippe was born on the 9th of September, 1999 and is the oldest child to Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe. She’s the older sister to her brother Deacon, and half-siblings, little brother Tennessee (on her mom’s side) and little sister Kai (on her dad’s side). Though her parents divorced in 2007 when Ava was just 8 years old she seems to have managed to live a normal life even though her parents fame, she even waited tables in LA! #relatable

Ava was named after Hollywood icon Ava Gardner and she seems to have inherited her parents artistic talents. Phillippe is not only a fashion model and has modeled for both the fashion brand Rodarte and her mother’s brand Draper Jones, she is also a keen photographer, and a talented sketch artist and she has dabbled in clay sculpting, so yeah she’s a super talented young woman for sure.

Being a young beautiful lady to two famous parents, her dating life has already been of interest and has been rumoured to have dated Paul McCartney's grandson! A new superstar couple in the making?

She also attended the fancy “Paris's le Bal des Débutantes” which several of Hollywood's offsprings have attended before her, though her date was an actual royal - we’re not even kidding. On her Instagram she stated “Last week felt like a dream, and I am so grateful to have so many beautiful memories from this adventure”. Ava is truly living the dream and we can’t wait to see what the future will hold for her.

6. Mother Daughter Relationship

Reese often gushes about her close relationship with daughter Ava, and how the two do everything together. She calls her 'my best friend', and they do seem to have the sweetest relationship. With Ava now being eighteen years old, Reese is preparing herself to see Ava leave the nest, and it is with mixed feelings: "I alternate between crying and feeling really proud of the woman she's become". Reese has also said she feels as if they have grown up together, and perhaps that is because she had her at a relatively young age.

Witherspoon has also said about her daughter Ava that she confers with her about fashion: "She tells me whether or not I can wear things". Oh, if only all mothers would take their daughters advice! The look-alike duo can talk for hours, and Reese says their tight-knit relationship includes sharing each other's emotions, hopes and dreams. Ava has also become the face of her mother's fashion and lifestyle brand Draper James, which means they are now working together as well. "Ava and I are most alike in our strong opinions and our empathy. From the time that she could speak, Ava has always had her own ideas". With each other by their side, we see no end to their mutual success!

5. Ava Is Also Daddy's Little Girl

Though Ava’s parents are divorced she has managed to keep a close relationship with both of her parents. She continuously post loving Instagram posts about her dad whenever it’s either his birthday, father’s day or just randomly. So sweet right?!

Her father, Ryan Phillippe, has in his turn talked about his children in interview, and specifically his oldest daughter and stated that being a father also has helped him prepare and getting in to character for some of his work. When he played a dad to a teenage daughter in Wish Upon, he could easily connect with the actress playing his characters daughter, thank’s to Ava - aww. Phillippe was a teenage heartthrob and always topped hottest lists during the height of his fame (and still does). He and in turn his daughter have been blessed with good genes but Ryan has said in an interview on the James Corden Show that it embarrasses his daughter that he does look so young and is mistaken for her brother.

4. Ava Also Has Very Close Bond With Reese

That mother and daughter have a close bond is clear to see when it comes to Ava and Reese. Not only does the pair often go on red carpets together or are spotted out and about by paparazzi. Now when Ava is older, we bet we will see even more of her. But what about their more personal relationship, well thanks to Ava’s popular Instagram, with over 641,000 followers, we get a good insight in their life. Ava is truly her mother’s biggest fan and posts pictures from events they attend together and captions how proud she is with supporting Reese and her projects.

On mother’s day Phillippe posted a sweet throwback picture of her mother and her with the caption “happy mother’s day, mama! I’m so glad we’ve gotten to grow together and support each other. love you!”. Reese was so young when she had Ava and they have remained super close even through Ava’s teenage years the pair seem to be best friends, I mean most teens don’t even want to be seen with their parents. With both old and new pictures and continuously publicly writing about their love and relationship through social media, we bet that their relationship is truly unique. #Goals.

3. Ava Is Also A Fashionista

Ava's style is, just like her gorgeous mother's, full of bold colors, but Ava is definitely developing her own sense of fashion and style and does have an edgier look than her mother. At merely eighteen years old, Ava is already making herself a name in the world of fashion. She had her first main debut by starring in Rodarte's fall 2018 lookbook alongside other big names such as Kirsten Dunst, Black Panther star Danai Gurira, Chloe and Halle Bailey, and Gia Coppola. Being asked to model for the lookbook is a massive deal for Ava as those chosen to partake in the series of portraits are women who inspire with their fashion. Go, Ava!

The young fashionistas are looking towards Ava for inspiration, and with her chic but edgy and colorful looks she is absolutely adding something to a world full of lookalikes with skin-tight nude-colored two-piece sets. Yes, Kylie Jenner, we're looking at you! Ava's style is young, cool, and has an edginess to it. Being eighteen years old, she is finding her style as a young adult woman, and figuring out what she likes to wear. And it seems as if her style is evolving into something truly inspiring.

2. What Does The Future Hold for Ava

In a time where more and more celebrity offspring are stealing the headlines and get fame for being born to famous parents, it’s safe to say that Ava could be heading in the same direction. With lots of fashion houses recently let celebrity kids hit the runway and they have taken over modeling. Children of Diddy, Pamela Anderson, Cindy Crawford to name a few, like who hasn’t heard of Sofia Richie, Gigi Hadid, Hailey Baldwin and Lily-Rose Depp that has gained tonnes of fame, and are all daughters to prominent Hollywood celebrities.

Ava has got some great potential, she has already done some modeling, she is blessed with beautiful genes and has two famous parents - we would be on the lookout for this young lady’s own,( well..) claim to fame. She recently made her debut at a high profile debutante ball in Paris, which invites young women from notable families to take part of, and she is in a long line of other celebrity daughters who has attended before her, such as Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s daughters and Sylvester Stallone’s daughter. Ava is following in the footsteps of other children of famous parents, and we are sure that she will go places.

1. Ava Is Literally Just Like Mommy

Reese and Ava not only just look like twins, there is more than what meets the eye. The mother and daughter naturally seem to share the same values and opinions. The pair are both outspoken on Instagram about events in society and use their platform to raise awareness for their followers, Ava’s 641,000 and Reese’s 13,1 million, to causes that are close to their hearts.

For the Witherspoon/Phillippe family it does seem like family comes first and it’s clear that the family is really close. There is really no scandals, which sadly is a rarity in Hollywood, and we hope and think that they will continue to be that role model family, they really are family goals.

Reese has often spoken about her pride for her Southern upbringing and the core values she has from her family, values that she has in turn given to her children when raising them. Phillippe has unlike her peers in Hollywood no scandals to her name or image, she doesn’t post risqué photos to gain attention - ehm we have a hard time finding another exemption... - she seems like a pretty normal teenage girl who just happens to have famous parents and we hope she stays on this classy path, just like mommy always has done.

References: bustle.com, vanityfair.com, nickiswift.com, draperjames.com, glamour.com, people.com, dailymail.co.uk, businessinsider.com, celeb.lianxo.com, tmz.com, instyle.com