The two pieces of Reese Witherspoon

By SAMANTHA ETTUS
Scripps Howard News Service
21-APR-05

Much like her character in "Legally Blonde 2," Reese Witherspoon is positioned to take a giant step forward.

This week, Celebrity Assets takes a peek into Reese the celebrity and Reese the actress.

Reese the Actress

As the only actress under age 30 to appear in the top five on Hollywood Reporter's list of highest-paid actresses, Reese is quite talented and possesses a strong work ethic.

Fiercely career-oriented, her obsessive punctuality is an indication of the effort and energy she puts into every role. Reese recognizes the benefit of remaining slightly underexposed, typically appearing in just one or two films a year and leaving her fans wanting more.

Her two most successful and acclaimed films, "Election" and "Legally Blonde," will go down as classics in the comedy genre and she is largely credited with making both of those films sing.

Even when she's featured in flops, such as "Legally Blonde 2" and "Sweet Home Alabama," she is rarely criticized for bringing down a project. And despite her marketability, she remains true to her art by starring in some films simply for the challenges and opportunities they present.

Last year's "Vanity Fair" is an example. The small-budget project allowed her to work with Mira Nair, a director Reese had admired from earlier work on "Mississippi Masala" and "Monsoon Wedding."

Perhaps most importantly, Reese always remains in control, choosing roles carefully and often producing films through her own production company, Type A Productions (named with a sly nod to her personality).

Reese the Celebrity

In addition to being a Hollywood star at 28, Reese is the wife of actor Ryan Phillipe and mother of two children, Ava and Deacon.

While plenty of her peers are clubbing until all hours, Reese's typical night is passed at home with her family. But though she has made reasonable efforts to live her life out of the spotlight, she has been unable to escape the unwanted attention that comes with celebrity.

Recent pictures include Reese walking her child to school, leaving Starbucks and exiting a nail salon.

Could it really be that she is a lot like us? You bet. Ironically, by leading a relatively normal life, Reese may have inadvertently fueled the interest of the paparazzi; her scarcity has increased the public's appetite for images of her, prompting tabloids to pay exorbitant prices for shots of Reese.

True to form, Reese had an altogether normal reaction when she was accosted by a group of paparazzi outside her gym last week. She was angry and scared, and wants the offending photographers to be penalized.

At Celebrity Assets, we encourage Reese to stay true to her brand by moving forward and pressing charges against the paparazzi, sending a message that their increasingly dangerous cat-and-mouse game will not be tolerated.

Remember: The most dependable road to the top is to treat your personal brand as your greatest asset.

(Samantha Ettus is the author of "The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do" (Random House). Contact her at Samantha(at)celebrityassets.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)