Reese Witherspoon Actually Doesn’t Think She Looks That Much Like Her Daughter

Ever since actress Reese Witherspoon’s 23-year-old daughter Ava Phillippe hit her teenage years, the Internet has noted their striking familial resemblance. While it’s far from unusual for a kid to look like their mother, pointing out this mother-daughter’s lookalike moments has become something of a phenomenon online. And yet, Witherspoon claims she and Phillippe just “don’t see it.”

On Tuesday’s episode of Today, the Legally Blonde star responded to Jenna Bush Hager referring to the pair as “twins” by saying, “She and I don’t see [the resemblance] that much.”

Seriously? Maybe Witherspoon looks at her daughter and gets confused because she thinks she’s looking at a mirror.

Or maybe Phillippe is trying to establish more of an identity outside of her famous family, though being mistaken for Reese Witherspoon isn’t the worst thing that could happen to someone.

The 46-year-old Oscar winner has three children: Ava, her 18-year-old son Deacon (now a burgeoning actor in his own right), and a ten-year-old son named Tennessee. She shares Ava and Deacon with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe and Tennessee with husband Jim Toth. During her conversation with Bush Hagger and Hoda Kotb, Witherspoon said it’s been a bit of a challenging parenting kids with a large age gap.

“You establish a different relationship,” she explained. “First of all, you’re managing them a lot when they’re little and it’s very physical. And then it’s more emotional support. And suggestions, not telling them what to do when they get a little bit older.”

She continued, “But you have to really nurture your adult relationship with your children too. And give them respect and space to become who they are, not who you want them to be.”

Even if that means pretending your daughter doesn’t think they look anything like you.