Reese Witherspoon has addressed the challenges she faced when she overcame an abusive relationship during an impassioned interviewed with Oprah Winfrey.
The actress was asked by her Wrinkle in Time co-star what the most difficult decision she's ever made has been in order to fulfil her destiny, as part of Winfrey's Super Soul Sunday.
'For me probably leaving an abusive relationship,' Witherspoon replied.
The actress said that she endured 'psychological and verbal' abuse on different occasions during her past relationship, and shared her breaking point when she summoned the strength to walk away.
'A line got drawn in the sand and it got crossed,' she continued during the interview, which also featured actress and comedian Mindy Kaling.
'And my brain just switched and I knew it was going to be very difficult but I just couldn't go any further.'
Witherspoon disclosed that leaving it changed who she was 'on a cellular level', and excelled her ambition and drive because it almost snatched away her entire self-esteem.
'I was young, and I was really young,' she recounted. 'I could never be the person I am today.
'I was a different person too. It changed who I was on a cellular level - the fact that I stood up for myself.
'None of leaving those situations is easy... It's wrought with self-doubt, particularly if someone damages your self-esteem.
'I didn't have self-esteem, and I'm a different person now.'
The 41-year-old star went on to say her experience was part of the reason she made Big Little Lies, and how all of her female co-stars had been impacted by abuse in some form.
'There was a range of experiences but there wasn't a woman there that hadn't been affected by abuse, not one of those women,' Witherspoon said. 'And that's why we decided to make that show.'
Witherspoon, Winfrey and Kaling also grace the cover of O magazine, in which they discuss the current #MeToo movement and the Time's Up initiative.
Naomi Gordon is news writer mainly covering entertainment news with a focus on celebrity interviews and television.
