How Reese Witherspoon’s Daughter Ava Channeled Her Mom in Acting Debut

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Ava Phillippe, welcome to The Odyssey.

Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s eldest daughter makes her acting debut on the April 3 episode of ABC series Doctor Odyssey, which stars the former couple’s Cruel Intentions costar Joshua Jackson. And as for what her role entails, according to the episode’s synopsis, Ava is playing Veronica, one of three college “vixens” chasing after Joshua’s titular doctor Max, during their spring break cruise. 

“Never fear, Veronica is here,” the show captioned the April 2 Instagram video. “Ava Phillippe is aboard The Odyssey, setting sail for spring break tomorrow.”

And the sneak preview even proves the 25-year-old is playing homage to her mom, as Ava sports a hot pink bikini top, one that is eerily similar to the one Elle Woods—Reese’s character in the 2001 film Legally Blonde—wears in her Harvard admissions video essay. 

And she is not the only child of a celebrity using The Odyssey as their spring break destination as Ava’s fellow spring breakers include Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson, 27, and Charlotte Lawrence, 24, daughter of Bill Lawrence and Christa Miller

Ava is not the only Reese connection to the ABC drama’s episode. Her onscreen daughter Kathryn Newton from Big Little Lies will also appear on the episode as a new character, Hannah. 

Disney/Ray Mickshaw, Amazon MGM Studios

Ava’s small screen debut comes just a few years after Reese and Ryan’s son Deacon Phillippe, 21, made his own acting debut in 2022 appearing on Mindy Kaling’s show  Never Have I Ever

“The thing about him is he has the thing that Reese has where he’s so warm and just well-raised,” Mindy, who in addition to costarring with Reese in A Wrinkle in Time is also penning Legally Blonde 3, told E! News in 2022. “Every person, every member of the crew and cast, he just wants to learn from everyone. So polite, but he’s also really funny.”

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.

As they follow in their mother’s steps, Ava credits her parents for encouraging her and her siblings to try different experiences.

“My parents have always encouraged me to choose the path that’s right for me,” she told E! News in 2021. “That is such a privilege to have parents that support you in that way and to want you to be who you truly are meant to be.”

For more celebs and their mini-me children, keep reading.

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