Reese Witherspoon has long had a mini-me, but now some fans think her ex-husband does, too. When the Big Little Lies star’s 19-year-old daughter, Ava Phillippe, posted photos of her new boyfriend Owen Mahoney to Instagram, fans couldn’t help but compare the couple to a young Reese and Ryan Phillippe.
After Ava Phillippe posted photos with her new boyfriend at a Cinepsia summer movie screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, fans flocked to the comments section of her post to comment on the resemblance to her famous parents, E! News notes.
“Omg so cute,” one fan wrote. “That picture makes me remember when Reese & Ryan were together.”
“Whoa!! Reese & Ryan!!” another wrote. And another follower dubbed Ava and her boyfriend Owen, “Young Reese and Ryan.”
Ava Phillippe was less than thrilled with the comparisons and even responded “big thx” to a friend who declared that her boyfriend does not look like a young version of her dad.
A few days before Ava Phillippe made her new relationship Instagram official, she was spotted getting cozy with Mahoney on a California beach, according to Us Weekly . The lovebirds recently finished their freshman year at University of California, Berkeley, and now they seem to be enjoying their time off from school together.
Ava Phillippe is just a little younger than her mom was when she met Ryan Phillipe. In Style revealed that Reese and Ryan met in 1997 at the actress’s 21st birthday party. The future Oscar winner recalled that she boldly told Ryan, “I think you’re my birthday present,” after downing a few Midori sours. Reese told Jane magazine that while Ryan thought her comment was “flattering,” she was later embarrassed by it.
The young stars embarked on a whirlwind romance and got engaged within a year after they met. Reese was only 23-years-old when she and Ryan tied the knot in Charleston, South Carolina in 1999, the same year as the premiere of their film Cruel Intentions . The newlyweds soon welcomed baby Ava, and four years later Witherspoon gave birth to their son, Deacon. Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe divorced in 2007 after eight years of marriage.
Ava Phillippe being compared to her mom Reese Witherspoon is to be expected. Now her followers are comparing her boyfriend to her dad Ryan Phillippe. https://t.co/4hgWI0VYrN pic.twitter.com/i1jMIRVMZT
— E! News (@enews) June 10, 2019
Ryan Phillippe once told talk show host Larry King he thought age was to blame for his divorce from Reese because they “were so young,” when they got together. And Witherspoon has also been vocal about her young marriage. According to Elle , Reese previously told ITV’s Lorraine that while she doesn’t regret anything from her past, she doesn’t think she knew herself before her relationship with Ryan Phillippe.
“I got married when I was 23 and had two kids by 27,” Reese said. “I said to my daughter, at 25 you start to know yourself better.”
