When Reese Witherspoon was young, her grandmother impressed upon her the importance of self-respect and staying strong – valuable lessons that have helped to make her one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses. Now, as global ambassador for Avon cosmetics, she wants to help other women harness their inner strength to escape the trap of domestic violence

The first time I find myself face to face with Reese Witherspoon we are at the Houses of Parliament on a sunny but crisply cold morning. Everyone is swathed in their winter wardrobes, apart from Reese, who is wearing an exquisite – but
bone-chillingly sleeveless – Roland Mouret dress and traversing the flagstones of Westminster Hall in spiky Martin Margiela heels.

It’s the day when the Prime Minister will later, rather embarrassingly, confuse Reese with her friend and fellow actress Renée Zellweger. But actually, when you’ve witnessed full-on Hollywood glamour teleported into the hub of British politics, you can understand why Gordon Brown found himself momentarily flummoxed. It’s not so much that Reese and Renée are both petite and blonde and have names beginning with R; more that Reese and the PM occupy parallel universes. He’s far too dour and serious to cross the threshold into her glitzy world, which begs the question, why is she, as one of the most successful Hollywood actresses of her generation, so eager to dip an immaculately pedicured toe into his?

Now 33, Reese made her name as ditzy Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, but cemented her acting credentials five years ago with her Oscar-winning performance in Walk the Line. Her role as June Carter Cash, wife of the country music legend Johnny, catapulted her to the top of the Hollywood pay league, outstripping Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz, and she commands a reputed $20 million (£12 million) a film.

Like many Hollywood A-listers, she is keen to ‘give back’. Two years ago she became global ambassador for Avon, and it is in this capacity that she is in London, to raise awareness for a new campaign the company is launching with the domestic violence charity Refuge.

In a Westminster committee room, she listens transfixed as Wendy Turner Webster – the television presenter and younger sister of Anthea Turner – speaks about her violent first marriage. It’s a harrowing and sadly all too familiar tale. In her early 20s, Wendy, now 42, spent five years married to a man who beat her and made her feel worthless. She found it difficult to leave him because she felt trapped. As Wendy (who today is thankfully happily remarried with two children) recalls how it felt to be stripped of dignity and confidence, the pained sympathy on Reese’s face is evident.

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