Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe have decided to part ways in October 2006 after seven years of marriage. We have come to the decision to keep this page as it once was to celebrate and honor their happy times together as a family. For updates on Ryan and his career, please visit Ryan is Saucy and Silver Screen Quotations.

Ryan started his career in his teens after moving to New York at 17 where he played Billy Douglas, the first openly gay male teenager on daytime TV on One Life to Live. This was followed with various other primetime TV credits until he landed his first screen debut as a crewman in Crimson Tide. His mark was made however with films like White Squall, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Playing by Heart and the fan classic, in which he starred with his wife, Reese Witherspoon, Cruel Intentions.

Ryan is a huge fan of Frank Sinatra, for both his music and as an interesting character in history. As a tribute he and Reese named their bulldog after the singer. Along with being an actor, Ryan is also a business man. With his long-time friends Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, and David E. Siegal, together they run a production company called Lucid Films. Ryan is becoming more actively involved in his films as a producer. His current film is the Oscar winning Crash and he is currently working on several exciting films.

Their Story
In 1997 while filming Pleasantville, Reese was celebrating her 21st birthday party where she met a special someone called Ryan Phillippe. Unbeknown to Ryan, though, Reese had invited him hoping they would have a chance to meet. By the end of the night Reese was cooing to Ryan "I think you're my birthday present." The next morning at 6am, Ryan had to fly out to shoot a movie in North Carolina. Whilst apart Reese says, "We had this very Edith Wharton courtship where we were writing letters and sending novels. I went to visit him two months later, and I knew."

Reese proudly announced to the world that she and Ryan were expecting their first child and six months later while 7 months pregnant, married her sweetheart in a private ceremony on a plantation in Charleston on June 5, 1999. On September 9, Reese and Ryan welcomed a baby girl, Ava Elizabeth, into the world. When asked today if she believes 22 is a responsible age to start a family, Reese says, "I don't think my life decisions are the perfect decision's for anyone else, but I wasn't 22 when I was 22. I'd been so many places and had really grown up so much, and Ryan was sort of the same way - very beyond his years."

Reese and Ryan have always kept a low profile on the Hollywood circuit choosing only to venture out to their own media appearances and avoid the paparazzi where possible, which often proves impossible given their status. Keeping with their relatively low-key family driven life style, Reese and Ryan often express their desire to raise their children in a non-Hollywood manner, instead giving them well respected values from the South, where Reese and Ryan were both born and are proud of to this day.

On 23rd October 2003 another Phillippe was added to the brood, a baby boy named Deacon, or Mister Dude or Baby D as his parents often call him. Deacon was welcomed with wide arms from his big sister Ava. To keep the family together at all times, Reese and Ryan take it in turns making movies. The children and non-working parent are on set at all times.

When asked what she likes about Ryan, Reese says "I love a lot of stuff about him. He's intensely creative, well read and intellectually challenging. That's what I always imagined for myself in a partner: somebody you could have a dinner conversation with. I'm always picking his brain, and he always has a great answer. Beyond that, he's fun. He's also great with my daughter. We both love children so much. That's a huge thing for me, too. I wouldn't want this life without children. It's a big part of who I am."

Like with any marriage, Reese and Ryan's is ordinary. It is a marriage that requires long term commitment. Both Reese and Ryan have previously admitted that the pair had been in marriage counseling to keep their marriage strong. This saw tabloid gossip magazines go wild with dollar signs in their eyes and for months afterwards, various gossip magazines the world over reported on so called 'exclusive' stories of a marriage crisis, infidelity and every other crazy story imaginable to a gossip magazine. Celebrating her five year wedding anniversary with Ryan last year, Reese said, "I feel like that whole thing got misconstrued. People were not nice about it. They thought it connoted big dark clouds on our lives. Since when it self-improvement a negative? Why wouldn't I be interested in psychology?"

Obviously, as we can see today, Reese and Ryan's marriage is going strong due to their love, hard work and commitment. And while these love birds did marry young in today's standards and are one of Hollywood's hottest couples, one cannot help but admire them for their integrity, for keeping it real. You will not find any Hollywood drama here, rather a loving family who work hard for what they have, are grounded by admirable southern values and are united by love.