Reese Witherspoon continues to be a household name based on her best movies, every time she glows with the color red, and because of her kick-ass role in Apple TV+’s The Morning Show. However, did you know that her household name isn’t actually her real name? Fans have their minds blown by Witherspoon’s recent name reveal and they’re not holding back on their thoughts.
We’re so used to calling celebrities by their stage names that we forget a lot of huge stars have real names. For example, Steve Harvey’s name isn’t really Steve Harvey as his real first name is Broderick and Emma Stone would love to be called by her real name Emily. Reese Witherspoon is in the same boat as her fellow Hollywood A-listers in that her real first name isn’t actually Reese.
What is Reese Witherspoon’s Birth Name?
Big Little Lies is one of the best shows you can find on your Max subscription starring big-name actresses like Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoë Kravitz, and Shailene Woodley. When Witherspoon and Kidman reunited after five years on Vanity Fair, she revealed to the Aussie-American actress why she’d call Laura Dern “Dern” on the set of the HBO series:
‘Cause my name is Laura. And her name’s Laura. And it’s confusing to me. My real name’s Laura Jeanne. So, I get confused so I just call her ‘Dern.’ ‘Cause we can’t both be Laura.
It looks like there’s only room for one Laura on the Big Little Lies set! I wonder if that means certain people on set refer to Reese Witherspoon as “Laura?” Because it seemed like Nicole Kidman needed a reminder about her former co-star’s real name.
The name “Reese” actually comes from her mother’s maiden name. It’s hard to know when the Legally Blonde actress changed her name, but we can guess it was early on as her first screen credit in The Man in the Moon had her go by “Reese Witherspoon.”
Fans’ Reactions to Reese Witherspoon’s Real Name
If your mind was blown by finding out Reese Witherspoon’s real name is Laura Jeanne, so were many other fans. In the Instagram reel of the name reveal, plenty of social media users commented on their shocked reactions to this actress’s fun fact:
- I was definitely Today Year’s Old learning Reese’s name is Laura. I need to know if people in her life call her Laura or Reese! Lol- @lowerdecknena
- I mean…I thought you went by Reese? Am I in a twilight zone? This is weird. Yes I know actors/actresses have REAL names but she is known as Reese, not Laura and Laura Dern is known as Laura. Wouldn’t everyone just call her Reese on set?- @curlygoldielox3983
- I have never known that her name is Laura 😳 Well shouldn’t she be okay when they call her just Reese? Or Reese Laura?- @cinetasticreviews
- So she goes by Laura irl or it’s just cuz it’s her real name so she hears it so funny lol- @kirstennicolewade
- What??? Laura Jeane???? 😮- @iarastefania
It looks like Instagram users were just as confused and surprised by the discovery. Now, it really does make me wonder what people on set call Reese Witherspoon.
So, it looks like many of us were today years old finding out Reese Witherspoon’s real name is actually Laura Jeanne. Now we know what the Oscar winner prefers to be called and so do other “Lauras” who work with Witherspoon on set. The 2025 movie release of the New Orleans native’s latest project You’re Cordially Invited will be available on your Amazon Prime subscription on January 30th.