Reese Witherspoon has revealed the emotional and physical challenges she faced while raising her children as a single mother and working in Hollywood. The Legally Blonde star admitted she often felt “deliriously tired” and sometimes “cried” while working 14 to 17-hour days.
Balancing Career and Parenthood
After her 2006 split from Ryan Phillippe, Reese raised their two children, Ava (now 25) and Deacon (21), while continuing her acting career. On Instagram, the 49-year-old actress posted old photos with her children and reflected on the difficult moments.
She wrote, “Someone asked me what raising three kids and building a career in Hollywood looked like … It looked like spending a lot of time in trailers together … It looked like always being on the road together … It looked like my kids constantly giving me career advice! … It looked really hard sometimes …”
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Long Hours and Little Sleep
Reese shared that she sometimes worked “14 to 17 hours, sometimes all night long,” then still woke up early for school drop-offs. “I was deliriously tired,” she admitted. Despite the exhaustion, she tried to keep a positive tone at home. “It looked like trying to say something positive about work when I got home at night. So my kids would know that my work was meaningful to me and could be fun!”
Finding Perspective Through Motherhood
Reese, who also has 12-year-old Tennessee with ex-husband Jim Toth, said the hard times were worth it. She ended her post with, “In conclusion, even though it was challenging at times, having kids gave me perspective about what was important in life. Nothing was better than getting to come home and hug them and hear about their day! Grateful to stand alongside other moms in this beautiful, messy journey … Tag the working mom who needs this.”
Becoming a Mother at 22
In a past interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, Reese recalled being “terrified” when she first became a mom in her early 20s. “I got pregnant when I was 22 years old, and I didn’t know how to balance work and motherhood, you just do it,” she said.
She admitted she worried about having steady work. “I made movies but I hadn’t established myself as someone who could demand that it shoot close to my kids’ school … I was just like every other mom and dad trying to figure it out. There’s a lot of compromise. Every bit of that sacrifice is truly worth it. You feel like that’s what makes me wake up on a Sunday, it’s not movies or my job, it’s my kids.”