Cinema Experts

“I was pretty ambitious. I felt like I had a good imagination and vision for my life. And I had people telling me 'You are driving the vehicle of your life here. You are the master of your own destiny in a sense. Do whatever you want to do.”
Maguire was born in Santa Monica, California. His father, Vincent Maguire, was a construction worker and a cook. His mother, Wendy Brown, is a secretary turned screenwriter and producer. During his childhood, Maguire entertained the idea of becoming a chef and to that end wanted to enroll in a Home Economics class as a sixth grader. His mother offered him $100 USD to take a drama class instead, and Tobey agreed.
The nomadic nature of his school-age years began to take a toll on Maguire emotionally, and finally, after yet another relocation to yet another school, Maguire dropped out of his freshman year of high school and never returned, deciding to focus himself on his blossoming acting career. By 2000, Maguire had taken the GED to officially graduate from high school, noting that during his high school days, he'd reached a point where “I wasn't doing school. I was showing up, but...not really giving myself.”
Maguire's first appearance in a feature film was in the 1989 movie The Wizard. In that movie, he played a goon of Lucas Barton, one of three competitors at a video game competition, and had no lines. Maguire initially worked as a child actor in the early 1990s, often playing roles much younger than his chronological age; as late as 2002, Maguire was still playing teenagers while in his mid-20s. He appeared in a variety of commercials and TV and movie roles, working opposite such stars as Chuck Norris (Walker, Texas Ranger), Roseanne Barr (Roseanne), and Tracey Ullman (Tracey Takes On...). Eventually, Maguire was cast as the lead in the FOX TV series Great Scott, which was cancelled 5 weeks later.
During many of his auditions, Maguire found himself competing opposite another rising child star actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. The pair struck up a fast friendship and made an informal pact to help each other get parts in their movies/TV shows/other projects. For example, both auditioned for the same part in the 1990 TV series Parenthood; DiCaprio got the part, and Maguire later got a guest role at least partially due to DiCaprio's recommendation. The same scenario played itself out during casting for the 1993 movie This Boy's Life (featuring Robert DeNiro as the lead); DiCaprio got the main teen role (ironically, the character was named "Toby") and Maguire got a part as one of Toby's friends.
By the mid 1990s, Maguire was steadily working but becoming caught up in the hard-partying lifestyle of some of his fellow teen actors. In 1995, Maguire requested director Allan Moyle to release him from his part in the movie Empire Records. Moyle agreed, and all of Tobey's scenes were deleted from the final film. Maguire then sought help for an underaged drinking problem from Alcoholics Anonymous; he has been sober ever since.
As part of his recovery from alcohol and learning to deal with his self-described "addictive and obsessive/compulsive nature", Maguire changed his career path slightly in order to obtain roles where he and DiCaprio would not always be in competition for the same part, and the move paid off when he got the role of Paul Hood, a teenage boarding school student whose narration anchors the action in Ang Lee's 1997 film, The Ice Storm. This soon led to a variety of lead roles where he played a thoughtful boy coming of age, in films such as Pleasantville, The Cider House Rules, and Wonder Boys. In Ride with the Devil (1999), Maguire gave a virtuoso performance as Jakob Roedel, opposite Jewel Kilcher. Though it gained little notice at the time, this film represents the best treatment ever of this part of American history. Maguire also played off his youthful-sounding voice in the 2001 children's movie Cats and Dogs, playing a beagle puppy named Lou.
In 2002, Maguire shot to superstardom as the web-slinging superhero Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, based on the popular Marvel comic book series. He reprised the part in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Maguire's performance as Spider-Man initially earned him some glowing reviews. Towards the third part of the franchise the actor experienced some backlash in the media. "For his part Mr. Maguire needs to stop relying on those great big peepers of his: simply widening your eyes to attract attention does not cut it when you’re over 30", remarked Manohla Dargis of the New York Times in her review of Spider-Man-3.
Though Maguire has not yet signed on for another sequel, the actor has denied reports that he will not return, stating, "I feel like the stories all deserve to be told, and, you know, if... the whole team wants to get back together, and we feel like we can make a good movie that's worth making, then I'm up for it."
Maguire solidified his stardom in 2003 with a leading role as the jockey John M. "Red" Pollard in the acclaimed film Seabiscuit, about the famous United States' racehorse Seabiscuit. In 2006, Maguire starred in his first villainous role as Corporal Patrick Tully in Steven Soderbergh's The Good German based on the Joseph Kanon novel of the same name opposite George Clooney and Cate Blanchett.
Maguire has also moved into another realm of filmmaking, producing. Maguire's production credits include 25th Hour (2002), Whatever We Do (2003), and Seabiscuit (2003), for which he served as executive producer.

“I was thinking about why I make movies, and I know why. Life is hard. It's nice to go escape and have a good time at the movies. If I can give people a movie about hope, love and the future, then I've done my job.”
Witherspoon's first role was in a made-for-TV movie called Wildflower, directed by Diane Keaton and starring Beau Bridges, William McNamara, and Patricia Arquette. That same year, at age 15, Witherspoon attended an open casting call for The Man in the Moon, intending to audition as a bit player. She was instead cast in the lead role, immediately capturing the attention of critics. She has since built up an impressive filmography, playing both comedic and dramatic roles. Following the success of The Man in the Moon, Witherspoon acted in many both lead and supporting roles. In 1993, Witherspoon had a minor role in Jack the Bear. That same year, she portrayed the leading character "Nonnie Parker" in the Disney/Amblin film A Far Off Place. The following year, Witherspoon acted in another leading role as "Wendy Pfister" in the 1994 film S.F.W.. In 1996, Witherspoon starred alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Brooke Shields as Vanessa Lutz in the thriller Freeway. Consequently, Witherspoon won Best Actress at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier.
1998 was a successful year for Witherspoon as she made three films: Twilight, Overnight Delivery, and Pleasantville. In the thriller Twilight, Witherspoon played "Mel Ames", making her first and only nude appearance. Meanwhile, her role as "Jennifer" in Pleasantville garnered her the Young Hollywood Award for the "Best Female Breakthrough Performance".
In 1999, Witherspoon's career continued as she starred as "Lissa" in the drama thriller Best Laid Plans. Meanwhile, she also portrayed "Annette Hargrove" in Cruel Intentions, where she acted alongside her future husband Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Also in 1999, Witherspoon portrayed Tracy Flick in Election. Although the film received good reviews (and her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination) Witherspoon noted in an interview that she struggled to find work after completing the film. Her highly praised performance received a ranking in 2006, at #45 on the list of 100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time by Premiere Magazine.
In 2000, Witherspoon received a supporting role in American Psycho. Witherspoon had small parts as Jill Green, Rachel Green's sister, in season six of "Friends", as well as Debbie Grunds in two episodes of King of the Hill.
After struggling to find work for a period of time, in 2001 Witherspoon starred as "Elle Woods", a fashion merchandising major who decided to become a law student to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard, in the film Legally Blonde, resulting in her breakthrough as a leading actress. Critics began referring to Witherspoon as "the new Meg Ryan". The box-office hit helped Witherspoon achieve fame. Meanwhile, critical reviews were generally positive, with Roger Ebert commenting that "Witherspoon effortlessly animated this material with sunshine and quick wit". As a result, Witherspoon garnered her second Golden Globe Best Actress nomination for her role. In 2003, Witherspoon followed up the success of Legally Blonde by starring in its sequel Legally Blonde 2, where her character became an environmental lawyer. Reportedly, Witherspoon received a $15 million paycheck for the sequel, making her one of Hollywood's highest paid actresses.
Witherspoon also starred as Becky Sharp in the 2004 film Vanity Fair, an adaptation of the classic novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. In early 2005, Witherspoon acted as "Elizabeth Masterson" in the romantic comedy Just Like Heaven.
In 2005, Witherspoon garnered much critical praise and awards for her turn as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. Carter Cash, who died in 2003, had personally approved of Witherspoon to play her in the 2005 biopic. However, Witherspoon never had the chance to meet Carter Cash, as Witherspoon was filming Vanity Fair when Carter Cash died. For this role, Witherspoon won several critical awards across the globe, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, NYFCC, the FFCC, the SFFCC Award for Best Actress, the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) for best actress in a lead role, the British Academy's BAFTA for best actress in a lead role, the "Favorite Leading Lady" at the 32nd Annual People's Choice Awards, and the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Recently, Witherspoon has been featured as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.
Witherspoon's first post-Oscar role came in the modern-day fairy tale, "Penelope", in which Witherspoon plays the supporting role of Annie, the eccentric best friend of Christina Ricci's pig-nosed character. Witherspoon was back in front of the cameras again in November 2006 as shooting began for the political thriller Rendition, in which Witherspoon stars as Isabella El-Ibrahim, alongside Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jake Gyllenhaal. The film is set to be released on October 12, 2007. It will be Witherspoon's first appearance in theatres in two years, since the 2005 release of Walk the Line.