Female stars who act and produce

Is it just us or does Reese Witherspoon seem to be taking over the world? The actress, producer, wife, mother and lifestyle brand founder has captivated us since she made her big-screen debut in 1991's "The Man in the Moon." Now, in 2018, Reese is taking on more than ever before. In addition to starring in the major motion picture "A Wrinkle in Time" and reprising her role on Season 2 of "Big Little Lies" (which she also executive produces), Reese has her hands in numerous other projects. The talented star, who turns 42 on March 22, is producing six upcoming films including "Wish List" and "Tinker Bell" (the latter of which she's also starring in). She's also joining forces with pal Jennifer Aniston to produce a yet-to-be titled TV series. In honor of Reese's birthday, Wonderwall.com is taking a look at all the powerful women in Hollywood who aren't just pretty faces but producers who are creating exciting new projects for us to enjoy. Keep reading for more…

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Speaking of Jennifer Aniston, the former "Friends" star is working both sides of the camera in 2018 as an actress and executive producer on the musical comedy "Dumplin'." The film is about a plus-size teenager whose mom is a former beauty queen. Jen's also working with Reese Witherspoon on a currently untitled joint TV project and is joining forces as a producer and actress with writer and director Sophie Goodhart for a currently untitled TV comedy. It looks like Jennifer's got plenty to keep her busy following the February 2018 announcement that she's split from hubby Justin Theroux.

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One of the youngest female producers on our list is singer-actress Selena Gomez. In between making chart-topping hits, starring in buzzy movies and being Justin Bieber's on-off girlfriend, Selena is also getting some great TV made. The 25-year-old phenom produces the hit Netflix series "13 Reasons Why" and is working her magic once more as a producer on the upcoming dramatic series "Rising." Although few details have been released, we do know the show is about a young Latina who lives in a low-income neighborhood who's on the cusp of being discovered.

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Right now, Ava DuVernay is the talk of Tinseltown because of her directorial prowess in the family fantasy adventure "A Wrinkle in Time." While Ava's known for directing some killer films (like "Selma," for instance), she's also a noted producer. Up next for this talented moviemaker are two TV movie projects: "Red Line" and "The Battle of Versailles." She'll also continue producing and directing her hit series "Queen Sugar" in 2018.

Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman might have a short list of producer credits under her belt, but considering the fact that one of her most recent projects is the award-winning HBO series "Big Little Lies" (co-starring fellow actress and producer Reese Witherspoon), it's clear she knows exactly what she's doing. In addition to starring in three films in 2018, Nicole's producing the Australian crime drama "Truly Madly Guilty," which is based on the novel by Liane Moriarty.

Mindy Kaling has had an amazing climb to the upper echelons of Hollywood. Once a writer, producer and co-star on the hit comedy series "The Office," Mindy later launched her own series, "The Mindy Project" (which ended in 2017), and is now a full-blown movie star thanks to her role as Mrs. Who in Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time," which co-stars fellow producers Reese Witherspoon and Oprah Winfrey. Mindy, who welcomed her first child in December 2017, made a triumphant return to television with the March 2018 debut of her newest series, "Champions," on which she serves as co-creator, producer and occasional star. She'll also appear in the June 8 crime thriller "Ocean's 8."

Angelina Jolie has been quietly producing her own films for the last 13 years along with raising her six children and serving as a UN goodwill ambassador and special envoy — totally normal stuff, right? In addition to the news that she's reprising her role as the title character in the forthcoming Disney sequel "Maleficent 2," we've learned that she's also producing and voicing a character for the animated comedy adventure "The One and Only Ivan." No release dates have been listed for either film but we're hopeful they'll be ready sometime in 2019.

Oprah Winfrey wears many hats and one just happens to be that of producer. Since 1989, Oprah's played a major role in bringing amazing films and TV shows to our attention. Some of her biggest projects include "Precious," "Selma" (both of which earned Oscar nominations) and her acclaimed talk-show series "The Oprah Winfrey Show." (She also has her own television network, OWN.) In 2018, Oprah's working behind the scenes again as an executive producer on three ongoing series: "Queen Sugar," "Oprah's Master Class" and the drama "Greenleaf."

Jessica Chastain's first stab at producing came in 2010 with the video short "The Westerner." From there, the fiery redhead's passion led her to produce the powerful documentary "I Am Jane Doe" and the historical drama "The Zookeeper's Wife" (in which she also starred). Up next for Jessica are two projects, "Seducing Ingrid Bergman" and "Painkiller Jane," both of which she's starring in and producing.

Rashida Jones isn't just the star of "Angie Tribeca" — she's also one of the comedy's producers. The Harvard grad and former "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" star was given the green light in 2017 for another season of "Tribeca" (debuting sometime in 2018) and also will serve as the executive producer on upcoming series "The Revengers." As if that wasn't enough, she's also set to star in several films in 2018 including "Zoe," which premieres in April.

Funnywoman Melissa McCarthy is many things to many people. She's a hilarious actress, a wife and a mother, not to mention a clothing designer, a director and even a producer. Her first major motion picture production was the 2014 comedy "Tammy." Since 2017, Melissa's produced and co-starred on the comedy series "Nobodies" (Season 2 premiers March 29!). In addition to starring in a bunch of movies in 2018, she's also producing two of them: comedies "The Happytime Murders" and "Life of the Party."

Mila Kunis has actually only produced two projects so far: "The Angriest Man in Brooklyn" and "A Bad Moms Christmas." But the Ukrainian-born actress and mom of two clearly enjoyed it because she's back at it, however this time it's for two TV shows: the comedy "Made in L.A." and the drama "Hunted" — neither of which have her listed as a star. Thankfully, she's also appearing on-screen in the Aug. 3 comedy "The Spy Who Dumped Me" alongside Kate McKinnon and Justin Theroux.

Shonda Rhimes, arguably the most famous producer on our list, is responsible for some of our absolute favorite shows like "Grey's Anatomy," "How to Get Away with Murder" and "Scandal" (to name just a few). In March 2018, Shonda's producing two new drama series, "Station 19" and "For the People."

Former "Saturday Night Live" star Amy Poehler has made some major strides since leaving the show in 2010. The comedic actress and author has launched several series as a producer including "Parks and Recreation," the first three seasons of "Broad City" and the comedy "Difficult People." In 2018, Amy's set to produce and co-star on the reality TV series "Making It" alongside Nick Offerman. She's also listed as an executive producer on an upcoming untitled Netflix series with Leslye Headland.

Mom, wife, actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Anne Hathaway can also add producer to her impressive resume. The "Ocean's 8" star has three projects in the works including the crime thriller "The Lifeboat," the sci-fi thriller "O2" and the drama "Live Fast Die Hot" — all of which she's both starring in and executive producing.

"Hidden Figures" actress Taraji P. Henson's first stab at producing was with 2014's "No Good Deed," in which she also starred. Now the Oscar-nominated actress runs her own production company, TPH Productions, and is responsible for the 2018 action thriller "Proud Mary." She's also producing the 2019 romantic comedy "What Men Want," which is a re-imagining of the 2000 Mel Gibson film "What Women Want."

Since 1995, Drew Barrymore has run her own production company, Flower Films, with business partner and friend Nancy Juvonen. Some of the films Drew's produced include 1999's "Never Been Kissed," 2000's "Charlie's Angels" and 2009's "Whip It." Drew even worked as the executive producer on Season 1 of her hit series "Santa Clarita Diet." Up next for this busy mom of two is the 2018 horror series "The Black Rose Anthology" and the 2019 big-screen comedy "The Stand-In."

In 2018, Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams is taking on her first producing project — the drama series "Sharp Objects" — in which she'll also star. The series is about a reporter who returns to her hometown to investigate a gruesome murder and, in the process, is forced to deal with her own demons. Amy's also starring in two films in 2018 including "Disenchanted," the long-awaited sequel to "Enchanted."

Eva Longoria isn't letting pregnancy slow her down in 2018: The busy actress and producer is starring in three films and making a cameo on the TV series "Jane the Virgin." She's also producing the 2019 documentary "Sanctuary," which is about life deep inside the Arctic. Fun fact: Eva also served as a producer on the 2014 action thriller "John Wick."

Elizabeth Banks didn't just co-star in all three "Pitch Perfect" films. She also served as a producer on all three movies in the successful franchise and directed "Pitch Perfect 2." The busy actress and mom currently has multiple new projects in the works in both TV and film. She's executive producing the crime-drama series "Project 13" in 2018 and is on board to direct and produce the big-screen 2019 reboot of "Charlie's Angels." Other projects she's working on include the film "White Girl Problems," the TV movies "Spirited" and "The Greater Good" and an untitled project with her husband, producer Max Handelman.

Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her acting work in the 2003 biopic "Monster," which was also the first film she helped produce. In 2017, Charlize served as an executive producer on the TV series "Mindhunter" and "Girl Boss" and as a producer on her big-screen action thriller "Atomic Blonde." In 2018, Charlize is starring in another film she produced, "Tully," which tells the story of a burned-out mom of three whose husband hires a nanny to give her a much-needed break. She also produced the crime comedy "Gringo," in which she has a co-starring role alongside David Oyelowo. Up next for Charlize is the 2019 comedy "Flarsky," yet another film she's both starring in and producing.

"30 Rock" star and executive producer Tina Fey keeps producing the kinds of shows we love and we're forever grateful for it. Not only is Tina also the creator of the hilarious Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," but she's served as its executive producer since its inception. Sadly, the other comedy series Tina recently produced, "Great News," might not return for Season 3 in 2018 because of low ratings. We'll have to nurse our heartache with Season 4 of "Kimmy," which premieres on May 30.

Actress, writer, director and producer Natalie Portman is continuing her movie-making streak in 2018 with the musical drama "Vox Lux" as its star and executive producer. Earlier projects that Natalie produced include the 2016 romantic horror flick "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and the western "Jane Got a Gun."

Stephanie Allain is the executive producer behind films including "Hustle & Flow" and "Dear White People," which spawned the 2017 TV series of the same name (which she also produced). In 2018, Stephanie's serving as a producer on the Alfre Woodard drama "Juanita" and is working on the 2019 comedy "The Weekend."

We first fell in love with Samantha Bee back in 2003 when she began her 12-year tenure as a correspondent on "The Daily Show." Today, Samantha's the host of her own comedy series, "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee," which she also happens to executive produce. The series was renewed through 2020 (yay), meaning we'll get to see a lot more of Samantha over the next two years. Samantha's also an executive producer on the comedy series "The Detour," which began airing Season 3 in early 2018.