Reese Witherspoon appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show on Tuesday and spoke candidly to her actress pal about what it was like becoming a mom at 22.
While announcing Witherspoon, Barrymore said they've known each other since they were 14 and have been "pregnant together," as well as calling her someone she "deeply, deeply, deeply respects."
During the virtual chat, the Big Little Lies actress admitted, “To be completely candid, I was terrified too. I got pregnant when I was 22 years old, and I didn’t know how to balance work and motherhood, you just do it.”
At the time, when she became pregnant with daughter Ava, Witherspoon's career was just beginning.
She's now a mother to three children, Ava, 21, and son Deacon, 16, who she shares with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. She and husband Jim Toth are parents to their son Tennessee, 7.
“I didn’t know if I was going to have steady work, too,” Witherspoon said, adding, "I made movies but I hadn’t established myself as someone who could demand that it shoot close to my kids’ school.”
She was also worried because at the time she “didn’t have any real power or leverage within my industry.”
“I was just like every other mom and dad trying to figure it out,” she said. “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.”
Since having Ava (who's basically her lookalike) Witherspoon seems to have mastered balancing motherhood and a successful career. She's an actress, producer, clothing line Draper James founder and book club creator who has received accolades for her work.
