Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s 22-year-old son Deacon is wasting no time making his mark in Hollywood.
On Thursday, Netflix announced the Better Than the Movies alert on revealing, "Deacon Phillippe, Nicole Bruner, Luke Kirby, Judy Greer, Claire Coffee, Ora Duplass, Veronica Garrubbo and Kynlee Heiman will join Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono in the new film based on the bestselling novel by Lynn Painter.”
The 22-year-old shared the streaming giant’s post to his Instagram Stories, calling his co-stars his “gang” before expressing how “beyond grateful” he was.
Phillippe kicked off his acting career in 2022 with Never Have I Ever, later appearing in Prime Video’s Motorheads in 2025.
He is set to star in 4 Kids Walk Into a Bar in 2027.
The cast also includes Nicole Bruner, Luke Kirby, Judy Greer, Claire Coffee, Ora Duplass, Veronica Garrubbo and Kynlee Heiman.
Phillippe takes on the role of Michael Young in the screen adaptation of Lynn Painter’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller, released by Simon & Schuster in 2021.
Filming for Julia Hart’s project kicked off in Chicago on Thursday, coinciding with the announcement of several new cast members, according to Deadline.
Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono’s lead roles were announced in July.
Better Than the Movies centers on Liz Buxbaum (Kitsos), “whose obsession with rom-com movies proves very helpful when she schemes with her annoying but cute next-door neighbor (Iacono) to get the attention of her untouchable crush."
Phillippe’s latest casting may draw further parallels with his actor dad Ryan, following his graduation from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in May.
Phillippe and Witherspoon married in 1999 and became one of Hollywood’s biggest couples before splitting in 2006.
Their divorce was finalized the following year.
He attributed their divorce largely to their young age, calling the split the “darkest, saddest place” he had known.
Witherspoon described it as “humiliating and very isolating.”
