Things are about to get a whole lot more tense for stage mums Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.
They may be long-time friends and even co-stars, but it’s no longer just about them competing for coveted jobs.
With the next generation coming through hot on their heels, the stars’ nepo baby daughters are now in direct competition.
According to reports, Reese’s actress-model daughter Ava Phillippe has just signed on with PR firm the Lede Company. Coincidentally, it’s the same firm as bestie Nicole’s aspiring catwalk queen oldest daughter, Sunday Rose.
And our source says Ava, 26, and Sunday, 17, may find their high-achieving mums “just can’t help comparing them!”
“I have been ambitious all my life,” Reese has admitted previously.
Feud rumours surface
Amid reports of “secret feuding” between the Oscar-winners, Reese addressed the chatter in an interview with news.com.au in 2019.
“We’ve gotten along, we’ve had fights and we’ve gotten over it,” she said.
She added that they have had “every kind of experience together”. “We’ve been on vacation, we’ve worked together and we’ve disagreed about things. But I think that’s the beauty of having a real partnership with someone.
“Ours is a real friendship. It’s not a fake, phony Hollywood picture, you know? I really value that about our friendship.”
Thankfully, our insider says the Big Little Lies co-stars and their mini-mes are determined not to let the business decision come between them.
“Reese and Nicole are thrilled their girls are with the same PR. It’s only natural that a friendly rivalry’s broken out between them,” a Hollywood insider tells Woman’s Day.
“The Lede Company is a powerhouse female-founded firm and Reese has been a long-time client.”
Charting their own courses
The source adds that, luckily, the girls have their own niche areas they can shine in.
“Sunday and Ava, who both started in modelling, signed up with Lede around the same time. But they’re not going to be directly pitted against each other in auditions,” notes the insider.
“Ava’s older and more established with several acting credits already to her name. Sunday’s focus is much more on the fashion and beauty worlds.”
In fact, the source reveals that both mums are relieved to know their daughters are in “such good hands as Lede’s”.
“[Lede] excel at ‘next gen’ stars,” they say, adding that their new shared representation could lead to joint events in the future, too.
“Just as long as their mums’ rivalry doesn’t get out of control”.
