battering and endangering a child to get a picture for their magazines is criminal and not business as usual.

[Unlike Carter Cash, who was drafted into the family business at a young age, Ms. Witherspoon was a child model and actress by choice. Still, she knows how Carter Cash must have felt as a kid expected to comport herself like a pint-sized grown-up.] That becomes a big, weird part of a person's personality, ... You have to be very adult, businesslike, professional and then have a colorful and childlike personality when you're performing. It's definitely a formative experience.

I got a role in this movie called Freeway playing this really angry, aggressive, violent young woman who believed wholeheartedly in the truth. I had such satisfaction afterward, and I thought, That's what I want to do.

Hey, don't put that glass on the table without a coaster. Haven't I taught you better?

I don't believe in perfection. I don't think there is such a thing. But the energy of wanting things to be great is a perfectionist energy.

Realizing you're not anything special to the kids is always a great sort of reminder that you're just a regular person. A regular, embarrassing old mom.