Ryan Phillippe

Ryan Phillippe was born on September 10, 1974. His childhood was spent in New Castle, Delaware, with three sisters, Kirsten, Lindsay, and Katelyn. Ryan's acting career began with the soap opera One Life to Live. It was no small role. His character, Billy Douglas, was US daytime television's first gay teenager. Billy struggled with coming out issues and the town's anti-gay reactions. After several other television appearances and he began appearing in movies of his own, Nowhere, White Squall and I Know What You Did Last Summer.  In 1997, Phillippe attended a party given for actress Reese Witherspoon's 21st birthday. Upon meeting Witherspoon, Phillippe was reported to have spent all night talking to the young actress, with Witherspoon telling Phillippe, "I think you're my birthday present." The following morning, Phillippe left California to film I Know What You Did Last Summer in North Carolina, and subsequently began a long-distance courtship with Witherspoon by mail, e-mail, and telephone. When Phillippe returned to Los Angeles, the couple continued dating and became engaged in December 1998. The following year, the pair starred in Cruel Intentions together. Phillippe and Witherspoon married on June 5, 1999, in a small ceremony on a plantation near North Charleston, South Carolina. On October 30, 2006, Phillippe and Witherspoon released a statement announcing that they had decided to formally separate. After more than seven years of marriage, Witherspoon filed for divorce from her husband on November 8, 2006, citing irreconcilable difference. The couple's marriage officially ended on October 5, 2007, with final divorce arrangements settled on June 13, 2008, according to court documents. The couple have joint custody of their children.