If you’re lucky, you caught Ava Phillippe make her acting debut last week on Doctor Odyssey. The 25-year-old daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe is just getting started, even though she’s perhaps the most surprised of all that she’s caught the acting bug. She tells us there’s more to come, including appearances in shows, shorts and indies. While she’s often credited for resembling her mom, her essence is all her own and star-worthy in its own right. We caught up with the face of Vince Camuto Wonderbloom fragrances to chat about their new launch, Wonderbloom Haze ($102), her acting debut and more.
What sets Haze apart from the original Vince Camuto Wonderbloom scent?
“Wonderbloom Haze is our new scent. It’s purple, which I think is really emblematic of its kind of whimsical, dreamy quality. It’s got a lot of warm gourmand notes. It’s got more of an ambery vanilla to it than the other, so it’s more dreamy. It’s a great gift. I’m excited to share it with my friends, mom, grandma and cousins. I think it works for a lot of age ranges and a lot of different women.”
You just made your acting debut. How was that experience?
“It was such a learning experience, and, also the whole time, I was kind of distracted by Ryan Murphy’s world building—it’s insane. He’s the king of television, and it was such a privilege to be on the set and to learn from other actors who I really admire and to get to work with Josh [Jackson] and Kathyrn [Newton] was super cool and a full circle moment because they worked with my parents. Paris [Jackson] and Charlotte [Lawrence] were such a fun time, and it really felt like we were on spring break, and we had a good giggle at Noah Beck’s character. It was such a crazy storyline.”
Did you ever go on a real spring break trip during college?
“I had a couple of spring breaks but nothing crazy. I’m not a party girl. I like my four friends and to just do a little girls’ trip. Shooting the show was very reminiscent of my spring break.”
Did you always want to act?
“No, I didn’t. I definitely pushed it so far to the wayside. I think as a kid, I got that question a lot like, ‘Are you going to do what your mom and dad do? Are you going to go into the industry? What are your goals?’ I think my only goal at the time was really to individuate and be my own person and figure out who Ava is rather than be a mini-me or a copy of somebody else.
Then, I was in college studying social sciences, and I really started to realize how big of a toll it was taking on me to neglect my creativity. As much as I love playing guitar or drawing and painting, I was ready to explore new mediums and psychology and sociology are such a huge part of my interests, and acting is a really great way to tie that into my creativity, which I wasn’t expecting, and I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do. To be honest, I didn’t pick my parents’ brains as much as I should have, and now I’m learning a lot and finding my own way with it, which is really rewarding.”
What are some on-set must-haves, in addition to smelling good with Wonderbloom?
“I mean, smelling good, that just sets the mood, right? I also have to have sunscreen. I’m a very fair-skinned person, and I don’t want to mess around with sun damage. Also, when you’re on set, you don’t want to give the makeup artist a hard time by being burnt, so that’s huge. I think a gua sha is really great to start off the morning, wake up my face, and do a little de-puffing. Then I let the professionals do what they do best.”
You’ve been both blonde and brunette. Does one feel more you?
“You know it’ll break my grandma’s heart because she loves me as a blonde, but I really do love the brunette. I’m naturally somewhere in the middle. I’ve been dying my hair since I was 14, but I want to believe I’m kind of light brown, dark blonde. I like to have fun with it and change it up.
The brunette has been the biggest change. People from my childhood don’t recognize me when I go to meet them places. My friend Lana walked past me in the bar the other day. She was like, ‘Where are you?’ and I was like, ‘I’m right here in front of you.’ I just did it for a change. You know, I think having crazy hair colors doesn’t really work with the acting thing, so I can’t do my pinks and my blues, but I still like to switch it up.”
