At the age of 15, Reese Witherspoon appeared in her first film, The Man in the Moon. Since then she has appeared in films such as Pleasantville, Legally Blonde, and Election, for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Then in 2005, the bubbly blonde won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, also starring Joaquin Phoenix.

On Saturday, the mother of three celebrated her 38th birthday with friends and family at a local bowling alley in Nashville, where she spent most of her childhood.

Growing up in the south, she has always been proud of her upbringing, claiming that it taught her about “being conscientious about people’s feelings, being polite, being responsible and never taking for granted what you have in your life.”

After being cast in a local florist’s television commercial at the age of seven, she was motivated to take acting lessons. She later went on to attend Stanford University as an English literature major before dropping out to pursue a a full-time acting career. The rest is history.

Witherspoon posted a few snapshots of herself enjoying her birthday bowl on her WhoSay account Saturday evening, the first one of herself slyly posing with a blue bowling ball.

The second picture was of Witherspoon and her “amazing” mother.

Her mother, Betty Witherspoon, holds five degrees and worked as a professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University. Her father, John Draper Witherspoon Sr., is a former colonel in the United States Army Reserve and a otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat doctor).

Throughout her childhood, both parents kept her grounded.

”Thank God my parents did this, but they told me I had to stay in school,” she said. “I was allowed to work in the summers but I couldn’t work in the school year. They said, ‘You’re not moving to California, that’s where crazy people live’.”

Currently, Witherspoon is married to talent agent, Jim Toth. They have one child together, 17-month Tennessee James. Witherspoon also has two other children, 14-year old Ave and 10-year old Deacon, from former husband, actor Ryan Phillippe.

Witherspoon has two films coming out this year, one being dark comedy-drama written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood). Inherent Vice is scheduled to be released on December 12.

Image via Wikimedia Commons