Reese Witherspoon is spookily sexy in Just Like Heaven

There are times when I'm very busy in my career and there are times when I really have to pull back. It's nice to have those choices in life, I'm very fortunate. There are moments in my life where I feel I worked a lot, like film after film, back to back and sometimes that's hard. You forget to calm down and relax and it's important to take time off. Since I finished this film in February, I've taken time off and I'm not working for the next year so it's been nice. It took me about three months to calm down and now that I'm relaxed I'm enjoying it.

You've been with Ryan Phillippe for seven years now, married for six. Do you need to put in any extra effort to avoid the seven-year itch?

We're just like a pair of socks. We go together everywhere. Things are really good. Ryan is about to start Clint Eastwood's new film Flags of Our Fathers, so that's really exciting, and he's had some great films out this year. It's been nice for me to take a back seat and watch his career ascend. It's exciting for me. We've been partners for a long time, we're good friends. Really good friends.

How do you keep the romance in your marriage?

(laughs) It's all about cooking, honey! It's all about being able to cook a really good meal. No, I just try to be conscious of what he needs and he's really sweet. He buys me little presents and gets me my favourite chocolates. I don't know. Just taking care of each other and having compassion for one another, I think it's important.

Does it help having two children to put things in perspective?

Yeah, absolutely. There's no thinking, 'I'm fabulous!' when one child is on one leg and one is on the other saying, 'Mommy, pick me up!' So, I think it's a very grounding element in my life and Ryan's life. There's nothing better than a day sitting on the ground with my kids and making them laugh. It's very fulfilling.

What's the greatest challenge you've ever had to overcome?

I think everybody has their own set of problems and sometimes I think I'm in the middle of the biggest challenge of my life just trying to maintain normality in a crazy lifestyle. I think it was definitely hard being 22 years old and having a child and not having any family around and not knowing what to expect, I was completely overwhelmed. That was a very formative experience for me.

How do you stay looking so good? Do you have any beauty tips?

I try to exercise, eat well, take care of myself - a lot of sunscreen. That's probably about it. I don't really think about it much. I'm lucky to have other people who worry about how I look.

What's your own idea of heaven?

I like the idea of being able to meet your family in heaven and other people who have passed on that are really close to you. I think about those things a lot. I had grandparents who I was really close with and sometimes I thought I saw them. I think I saw them maybe once when I was giving birth to my son, my grandparents were definitely there with me. That would be nice.

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