Let's take our hats off to this American actress!

Reese Witherspoon made her name as the superficial, glossy blonde in light-hearted comedies. But there's no mistaking her for that!

America's Sweetheart has used her fame to develop into a brilliant businesswoman and, not least, activist.

She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2015 by Time magazine, and one of the 100 most powerful women in the world in 2019 and 2021 by Forbes.

As a producer, she has helped create more opportunities for women in the film industry and has contributed to the growing diversity of women being cast in a wide range of lead roles.

Her efforts have made it possible for women all over the world to take control of their narratives and embrace the many nuances and complexities that make us who we are: not a woman seen through a man's eyes, not a woman as an extra, but a woman in the lead role of her own life.

BETTER ROLES FOR WOMEN IN MOVIES, PLEASE

Reese Witherspoon has made it her mission to fight for greater representation of minorities and more opportunities for women in both Hollywood and the broader cultural environment. Why? Because she got tired of all the terrible roles for women in movies.

I was sick of making movies where I was the only female lead on the set. I was sick of seeing scripts where there was one female role, badly written, and yet every actress in town wanted the part because there was nothing else.
Reese Witherspoon (quoted in Vogue magazine)

That's why she created Hello Sunshine – a media house and production company that puts a woman at the center of every story they create, promote and support, and which casts a light on the challenges and obstacles women continue to face today while exploring the possibilities for a new way forward.

Reese Witherspoon also works tirelessly to create better opportunities for female screenwriters, who often struggle to get funding for projects with female leads.

Maybe there is room for a more inclusive idea about who can be on-screen and who can get it funded.

Maybe there are different ways to get content made so that the world we see on-screen looks more like the world we walk through in real life.

This tribute is to Reese Witherspoon for dispelling the stigma of the blonde actress in ditzy comedies, and for doing her part to pave the way to more opportunities and greater recognition of women in Hollywood and the rest of the world.