Reese Witherspoon admits she 'didn't understand what homosexuality was' until she moved to LA

Reese Witherspoon has admitted she 'didn't understand what homosexuality was' until she moved to Los Angeles because she wasn't taught about it growing up.

The actress, 44, made the revelation during a virtual interview with Watchmen star Regina King - with whom she co-starred in Legally Blonde 2 in 2003 - as part of Variety's Actors on Actors series.

Mother-of-three Reese was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1976 and raised in Nashville, Tennessee before moving to LA in the early stages of her career.

Speaking from her home in California about her latest TV show Little Fires Everywhere, based on Celeste Ng's hit 2017 novel, Reese told Regina: 'No one spoke to me about sexuality when I was a teenager.

Reese Witherspoon has admitted she 'didn't understand what homosexuality was' until she moved to Los Angeles because she wasn't taught about it growing up during a virtual interview with Watchmen star Regina King

'I didn't understand what homosexuality was. My grandparents didn't explain it, my parents didn't explain it. I had to learn from somebody I met on an audition in Los Angeles.'

She referenced the moment her Little Fires Everywhere character Elena - matriarch of the seemingly-perfect Richardson family - discusses homosexuality in the show, explaining that she incorporated snippets of a conversation she once had about the topic into the script.

She recalled the time her grandmother described sexuality as 'very rare' and 'not a thing that happens very often' in the Nineties.

'We incorporated some of the conversation I had with my grandmother afterward,' Reese said.

Mother-of-three Reese was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1976 and raised in Nashville, Tennessee before moving to LA in the early stages of her career. Pictured at her home in California

'She said, "Homosexuality is very rare, Reese. That's not a thing that happens very often." And we put it in the script.'

When Regina pointed out that Elena says this line in the show, Reese explained: 'Elena says it because that’s what was said to me in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1994.'

Reese described Little Fires as an 'incredible journey', adding that it was a 'great experience' to be able to 'look at a time that was actually 30 years ago and think, "I was a teenager then. What did my mom say about sexuality, race, class? What were the things that I was told that maybe were true or not true? How was I insensitive?"'

The popular series also stars Anika Noni Rose, Britt Robertson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Bracey and Joshua Jackson.

Little Fires Everywhere follows the seemingly-perfect Richardson family lead by Reese Witherspoon, who meets a mother (Kerry Washington) and daughter (Lexi Underwood)

Earlier this month Dailymail.com revealed Reese quietly scooped up a $11.9 million Tudor-style home in Los Angeles, less than two months after unloading her nearby $17 million mansion.

Located in the affluent suburb of Brentwood, the 8,652 square foot home is nestled inside a wooded enclave that features a pool, spa and top of the line kitchen.

With six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, it offers plenty of space for her family of five - her husband Jim Toth and her three children Ava Elizabeth Philippe, Deacon Reese Philippe and Tennessee James Toth.

The actress wasted no time in snapping up the property after she sold off her $17 million Pacific Palisades mansion to an all cash buyer in April.