While appearing on “The Drew Barrymore Show” on Tuesday, Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon opened up about how “terrified” she was to become a mom when her career was just starting at 22.
“To be completely candid, I was terrified too,” Witherspoon, 44, said of becoming a parent at a young age. “I got pregnant when I was 22 years old, and I didn’t know how to balance work and motherhood, you just do it.”
“I didn’t know if I was going to have steady work, too,” she added. “I made movies but I hadn’t established myself as someone who could demand that it shoot close to my kids’ school.”
The “Big Little Lies” star went on to say that at the time she got pregnant, 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,” Witherspoon 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.”
People Magazine that Witherspoon previously opened up about motherhood last year.
“I’ve been a mom since 1999,” she said. “I got pregnant when I was 22 and delivered when I was 23.”
Witherspoon had daughter Ava Elizabeth, 21, and son Deacon Reese, 16, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. She’s also mom to son Tennessee James, 7, with husband Jim Toth.
Witherspoon admitted that it wasn’t until her oldest child was actually born that she realized her entire life would change.
“Everything you believe. Everything you eat. Every piece of independence you have,” she explained. “You can’t go out without thinking about another person.”
These days, however, Witherspoon is “glad” she had kids at a young age because “having little kids is more physical and it’s really hard on your body.” She also said that having her son at an older age was much easier in terms of actually being a mom.
“Having a baby at 37 was so much harder,” Witherspoon confessed. “I depend on the kindness and support of my mom friends. It’s really about your support system, your family structure.”
“Being a mom is really great, it’s a big part of my life,” she added. “I would say it’s the biggest part of my life.”
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