By the time she hit her mid-20s, Reese Witherspoon had already managed to become one of Hollywood’s hottest young starlets and had acted in a variety of big screen roles. She also garnered a great deal of attention due in part to her marriage to her Cruel Intentions costar Ryan Phillippe and her recent relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal.

As far as her acting career goes, Reese Witherspoon has officially been drafted to the big leagues. Since the success of her movie Legally Blonde, for which she was paid $5 million, her asking price jumped significantly. In fact, she made $12.5 million for 2002′s Sweet Home Alabama, and $15 million apiece for Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003) and Vanity Fair (2004). In 2005, she added Just Like Heaven and Walk the Line to her resume, and then 2008′s Four Christmases.