Reese Witherspoon honored with American Cinematheque Award: see her 5 greatest films here

• comments
• 
• 

Reese Witherspoon is about to close 2015 with a ball, as she was recently named as one of Glamour's Women of the Year while gracing the cover of the publication's 25th Anniversary special. Comedian Chelsea Handler, who was on the list in 2011, commented that Witherspoon was given the honor because "She's making movies, telling stories, giving women opportunities—all because she wants her daughter to have an example of what it's like to be a responsible human."

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Witherspoon was recently honored with the American Cinematheque Award for her exemplary work on and off screen. Her friends and colleagues, including Hollywood A-listers Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Alexander Payne, T Bone Burnett and Laura Dern were on hand to speak about Witherspoon's work.

"This whole experience is just overwhelming and unbelievable because I'm literally just a girl from Nashville who had a big dream," Witherspoon said as she accepted the award. She also joked, "I really thought if I worked hard and did my very, very best, one day I could get Matthew McConaughey to come on a big public stage and say really nice things about me. I actually think that's pretty much every Southern woman's dream."

On a more serious note, Witherspoon spoke of the disparity between the roles being created for men and women in the entertainment industry. She said, "Women are 50 percent of the population, so we should be 50 percent of the roles on screen. We need to see more female surgeons, astronauts, soldiers, supreme court justices onscreen — not just mothers and girlfriends of famous men."

In honor of Witherspoon's extensive and laudable work, here are five of her best films to date.

1. Freeway (1996) Witherspoon starred alongside Brooke Shields and Kiefer Sutherland in this film that according to Rotten Tomatoes, helped Witherspoon get the attention of critics.

2. Legally Blonde (2001) Witherspoon earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for this film, and won the 2002 MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance for the film, which helped further catapult her into mainstream media.

3. Walk the Line (2005) This biopic based on the early life and career of Johnny Cash starred Witherspoon alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Robert Patrick, and earned the actress an Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also reaped the award for Best Actor for Phoenix's work.

4. Mud (2013) Jeff Nichols' coming-of-age drama-thriller starred Witherspoon alongside Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, and Sam Shepard.

5. Wild (2014) Based on Cheryl Strayed's 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail and featuring a screenplay by Nick Hornby, Wild featured Witherspoon as a recently divorced woman on a journey to self-discovery and healing. The film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée.