Reese Witherspoon opens up about abusive relationship that forced her to ‘rewire her brain’

Reese Witherspoon has opened up about her past and how enduring an abusive relationship forced her to 'rewire her brain'.

The Legally Blonde actor has previously shared back in 2018 how she left an abusive relationship while speaking with Oprah, but now seven years later, she has been asked to reflect on the hardships she faced.

While speaking about her career on The New York Times' podcast, titled The Interview, host Lulu Garcia-Navarro called on the 49-year-old to talk through what her 'lack of confidence' felt like - as it wasn't obvious for the public to see.

"Well, I think I was very good at being... a professional, and showing up and doing the right thing," the Louisiana-born star replied.

"But I wasn't emotionally mature when I was young, and you get in relationships that don't work for you. And sometimes you don't even see the dynamics that are happening.

Reese Witherspoon has opened up about her past and how she endured an abusive relationship when she was younger (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)

"So, when I got out of that, it took me a while to reconstitute myself. My spirit had been diminished because I thought all those awful things that person said about me were true and I had to rewire my brain."

She continued: "But I was really insecure because I've talked to a lot of people who've been in abusive relationships and they can't see it, you know, and I couldn't... I couldn't see it.

"[It] took me a long time to be this woman that I am now."

The mother-of-three was then quizzed over her usage of the word 'reconstitute', and what it looked like for her being constantly in the public eye.

"It's very hard to be a public figure," Witherspoon shared.

"So, I have a lot of compassion for people who live public lives and maintain privacy - it's nearly impossible at this point.

"Everybody dehumanizing you in a certain way, like taking pictures of you like you're an animal in the zoo instead of a person with their children or having a private moment.

"Yeah, it was hard. It was really hard... and being a mom and wanting to protect young people is hard, too, you know?"

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.