Deacon Reese Phillippe Is Growing Up So Fast

Reese Witherspoon's look-alike daughter Ava Phillippe became a big sister when brother Deacon Reese Phillippe was born in 2003. Witherspoon and her husband at the time, Ryan Phillippe, decided to name him after his mom and one of Ryan's relatives; Deacon is the nickname of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Charles Louis Phillippe.

While his moniker is inspired by an athlete who was active in the 1900s, Deacon got an early taste of acting when his mother was cast in a movie set in the 1800s. But since he was still in the womb, he didn't get an IMDb credit for helping his mom play a pregnant woman most convincingly in the film, "Vanity Fair." Witherspoon recalled in a 2003 BBC interview: "I told [director Mira Nair] I was already about four weeks pregnant so we better get going. She thought it would really help the piece and she used it as part of the development of the story."

Deacon didn't get bitten by the acting bug as a young child, but cameras became a regular part of his life. As the son of two popular Hollywood stars, he was destined to be a prime paparazzi target. "My children will tell you stories about being in preschool and people climbing on the roofs of our cars," Reese told Time in 2021. It might be hard to believe, but Deacon has reached adulthood and is actively seeking camera lenses. The difference is he's now in control of the content that we see.

By 2007, Deacon Phillippe was already joining dad Ryan Phillippe on his movie sets. He even got to borrow a piece of Ryan's "Stop-Loss" wardrobe, a camo-print bucket hat, during a break from filming on set. But apparently, the experience didn't make Deacon want to be just like his dad. According to Reese Witherspoon, her son's career aspiration at age 4 was to someday get paid to deliver pizza.

"Not that there is anything wrong with that but it's hard to see how it could be a career as such," Witherspoon told Express in 2007. "My daughter wants to be a scientist but they are both at the stage where it changes from one week to the next."

It turns out that Pizza Hut found out about Witherspoon's interview and saw it as a delicious marketing opportunity. The company drafted a letter offering Deacon his dream job and got some free advertising by sharing it with entertainment news outlets, including Just Jared. "The same Pizza Hut drivers who deliver hot, fresh pizzas to your door have gone on to become successful businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and, yes, even actors," it read in part. The letter also promised Deacon that he would receive some swag to help him prepare for his future, including a toddler-sized car to make deliveries in, a Pizza Hut employee uniform, and gift cards for the restaurant.

In October 2010, Deacon Phillippe was spotted hobbling around on crutches with his mom and the new man in her life, Hollywood talent scout Jim Toth. The Daily Mail speculated that his involvement in sports was to blame for his injury, but this was unconfirmed. Thanks to Ava Phillippe, what we do know is that Deacon handled having to wear a cast on his leg like a champ, as she was among the friends and loved ones who scribbled a message on the orange plaster. "To the toughest 1st grader ever! [heart] Ava," it read.

Deacon appeared to be all healed up when he joined his mom for her Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony that December. He and Ava both got on their knees beside Reese Witherspoon to pose for photos with her gleaming new star. During her speech, Witherspoon shared Deacon and Ava's previous reaction to learning that she hadn't been offered a spot on the famed sidewalk yet. "They said, 'Well, they better hurry up while you're still alive [so] you can still enjoy it,'" she recalled.

While the siblings clearly had a sassy side, Ryan Phillippe praised them for being perfect little angels. "My kids are so well-behaved," he said in a 2010 "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" appearance. "I haven't had to raise my voice to them in four or five years." He also spoke about then-6-year-old Deacon playing flag football. "It gets surprisingly intense," he marveled.

In a 2018 appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," Reese Witherspoon said that Deacon and Ava Phillippe had zero interest in watching their parents play lovers in the 1999 twisted teen drama "Cruel Intentions." However, she and Ryan Phillippe did take their kids on a mini-tour of some of the movie's filming locations in Central Park. "We were with Ava and Deacon talking, and they were tripping out on the fact that we were there shooting a movie before they were even a thought in our minds," Ryan recalled on HuffPost Live (via Extra) in 2014.

That same year, Witherspoon revealed that her son was starting to get embarrassed by her behavior. However, Deacon's maternal mortification was unrelated to her movie career. "We were driving in the car and I had my coffee cup there, and he said, 'Ugh! The lipstick on your coffee cup is so embarrassing,'" Witherspoon recalled on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." If that's the most embarrassing behavior the then-11-year-old had to endure from a parent, we would argue that he was one lucky tween. Witherspoon also complained that Deacon wouldn't allow her to take pictures of him anymore. But in 2013, he did let his dad share a photo of a sweet father-son moment on Instagram: Ryan giving him a haircut with electric clippers.

In 2016, Deacon Phillippe graduated from elementary school, turned 13 years old, and went on an epic adventure with his mom. The two jetted off to the wilderness of British Columbia, and Reese Witherspoon chronicled their special mother-son camping trip on social media. They had to cross a shallow river while they were horseback riding and even encountered a bear that had seemingly caught its supper in the water. Witherspoon kept fans updated via Snapchat, which used to play an important role in her relationship with Phillippe. "I have two teenagers, and I've discovered that they will Snapchat me back, but they will not call me back," she said during a 2016 "Today" appearance.

While Phillippe was growing up fast and engaging in the type of typical teen behavior that parents find so frustrating, he still had a special bond with his mom. He and Ava Phillippe were spotted jogging with Witherspoon in 2016, and apparently, he hadn't outgrown one of his family's special Christmas traditions. That December, Witherspoon spoke to People about what the holidays are like in her household. "Gingerbread houses, and we have to have Advent calendars ... I forgot the Advent calendars this year, and Deacon was like, 'Mom! Where are they?!' I didn't realize how important they were to him!"

In a 2019 appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Reese Witherspoon revealed she was teaching Deacon Phillippe how to drive. However, she admitted that she probably wasn't the best driving instructor. "He's a good driver. He's actually a better driver than I am," she shared. "I get distracted a lot because I see cute dogs." Then, Phillippe got to put his own teaching skills to the test when his mom tasked him with schooling her about all things TikTok.

Some teens would die of embarrassment if their parents decided to create an account on the app, but Phillippe sweetly encouraged his mom to join TikTok in a video that Witherspoon shared on Instagram. He did, however, say the word, "No," a lot while she was attempting to show off some of her best dance moves. Phillippe patiently did two TikTok dances with his mom, the "Woah" and the "Milly Rock." Witherspoon was then able to teach Jimmy Fallon how to hit the woah when she appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," and it turns out that Phillippe's driving lessons could have doubled as a TikTok class. "It's like you're driving a car," Witherspoon explained while trying to nail the dance move.

Proving that Witherspoon isn't the only hip and happening parent, Ryan Phillippe took Deacon to the Firefly Music Festival in 2019. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Ryan revealed that two of the acts they enjoyed watching together were Travis Scott and Brockhampton.

Reese Witherspoon got to play one of her most important roles in 2020: proud mom. At age 17, Deacon Phillippe decided to pursue a career as a music producer, and he teamed up with vocalist Nina Nesbitt for his first single, "Long Run." When he dropped the track, Witherspoon assumed the role of her son's hype woman. "It's the perfect summer bop with a sick beat and dope drops (is that what the kids say?!)," she wrote on Instagram. Phillippe also worked with some pretty big names for his second release, "Love For the Summer." It was penned by country music superstar Kelsea Ballerini and performed by social media influencer Loren Gray.

Deacon's decision to enter the music business earned him an interview with Billboard, in which he revealed that he learned how to create EDM beats via YouTube, and that he was making the most of the COVID-19 lockdown by expanding his musical horizons. "I've been using this time to perfect my skills and work on mastering a lot of production stuff," he said. "I learned to DJ, which is quite a process, and I also started learning the ukulele."

Interestingly, he revealed that one of his biggest musical inspirations was the man whose biopic earned Witherspoon her Oscar: Johnny Cash. Phillippe also shared that his supportive mom was letting him record music at her house, and he told Interview that his dad had taught him a few music production basics.

Deacon Phillippe joined the family business in 2022 when Mindy Kaling offered him the opportunity to appear in the Netflix series she was executive producing at the time, "Never Have I Ever." Reese Witherspoon had mentioned to Kaling that Phillippe wanted to give acting a shot, and in a serendipitous stroke of luck, there was a guest-starring role available that he seemed well-suited for.

"He's obviously so talented and he's great-looking, and we just thought he would be great and he was excited to come and do it," Kaling told Variety. "He's just such a well-raised kid. He's so talented, he's so funny and fit in perfectly with the cast." In another interview with E! News, Kaling praised him for having excellent manners and possessing the same warmth as his mother.

While the show's co-creator Lang Fisher told Entertainment Weekly that Phillippe did an excellent job with his first-ever acting gig, the teen's proud dad seemed pretty certain that he wasn't going to start pursuing acting as a full-time career in the near future. "He's about to go to college for music," Ryan Phillippe told ET. "That's his primary focus." He also shared that Deacon had completed a mixtape that he was planning to release. "It's incredible," he gushed. "I'm so excited for people to hear. It's really good stuff."