Reese Witherspoon "likes" her wrinkles.
The 43-year-old actress – who has Ava, 20, and Deacon, 15, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe and Tennessee, six, with spouse Jim Toth – enjoys seeing the signs of herself ageing on screen because she knows she has "worked hard" throughout her life.
She said "One of the things that struck me about ‘Big Little Lies’ was how I saw my own life reflected in each of the characters because I was a divorced woman, I’d been a single mother, a married mother, and I had another child in a second marriage.
"When I saw the first version of it in the editing room, I immediately noticed the little lines on my face and said to myself, ‘I like them, I got them one by one… I worked hard to get these wrinkles.
"Now I can play women who have lived more and gone through a lot of changes, not simply because I’m in my 40s but because I’ve gone through that kind of evolution myself."
And Reese believes the 40s are the "best years" for women because they are more confident but also going through "great personal growth".
She told Closer magazine: "I think the 40s are the best years for women.
"You have a much clearer idea of who you are and you know exactly what you want.
"So you surround yourself with the best people, you have a much better idea of what you want in a relationship and you’re much bolder and less afraid.
"It’s a time of great personal growth where you have much greater self-awareness."
The ‘Cruel Intentions’ star – who set up her production company, Hello Sunshine, five years ago – is thankful for the support of her husband.
She said: "I’ve had a lot of encouragement from him.
"He told me not to back down when it comes to asserting myself and fighting to get a project made.
"For years he’s been telling me I would make a good producer. And I finally did it!"