Reese Witherspoon's parents were proud of her when they realised she wasn't going to be an unemployed actress.

The Hollywood star is one of the most successful in the business, having won an Oscar for her role in Walk the Line and appeared in countless blockbusters.

She always knew she wanted to act and her family were supportive, although she thinks her mother and father only relaxed properly when she started booking big jobs.

"My parents would have loved me to become a doctor but they knew deep down that acting was in my blood," she explained. "I think I made them both very proud of me when I started getting big roles and they could see I wasn't going to be unemployed."

The 35-year-old actress was born in Louisiana and initially her background went against her. Movie bosses were unsure of her southern accent but she now sees that time as a positive one.

"Oh, big time! I was treated like a second-class citizen because I had an accent," she told Look magazine. "That taught me to become assertive something I really lacked in my personality. I would never have gone anywhere in this business by being shy and retiring."