For Some Reason Celebrities Can't Get Over Reese Witherspoon's Body Double
Yesterday, the eternal human sunshine commonly known as Reese Witherspoon delighted her legion of followers by introducing them to an incredible Reese Witherspoon doppelgänger: a woman named Marilee Lessley, who’s been serving as the actor’s body double for over a decade now. (For those unfamiliar, a body double stands in for an actor while a set is being prepared, often to make sure the lighting and whatnot is alright for the scene in question. Sometimes, they’ll also do light stunt work.)
Witherspoon gushed about her pal in an Instagram video, noting how she’s been her body double for an astounding five films as well as Big Little Lies. “Okay you guys, I want to introduce you to someone who’s been working with me for years. This is Marilee! And she’s my double! Don’t we look alike?!” Witherspoon asked her followers. “We do, we totally look alike,” Lessley responded. “We totally do.” In an additional Instagram Story, Witherspoon said the two crossed paths on the set of Legally Blonde 2, and their resemblance was so uncanny that they started their working relationship shortly thereafter with Just Like Heaven.
As pointed out by BuzzFeed, many well-known actresses have responded to Witherspoon’s Instagram post with an equal sense of envy and amusement. “Wow!” Julianne Moore wrote. “Twins,” Elizabeth Banks opined. “CraZy,” Katie Couric wrote with unusual capitalization and a few emojis. As for Rita Wilson: “That is crazy!” Zoe Saldana also got in on the fun, writing, “So beautiful!”
Interestingly, as People reports, Witherspoon and Lessley’s friendship goes outside the boundaries of work — when Lessley fell on hard financial times after a divorce in 2016, Witherspoon was there to support her friend to ensure she was able to get the help she needed. “Reese came to me on this shoot as she learned about all the tragedies and trials that had unfolded in my life that month and she asked how she could help,” Lessley wrote on Instagram at the time. “Even told me I could go home paid.”
If that’s not blond sisterhood, we don’t know what is.
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