Reese Witherspoon became less of an ''asshole'' when she had children.

The 43-year-old actress - who has Ava, 20, and Deacon, 16, with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe and Tennessee, seven, with spouse Jim Toth - became a ''better person'' when she had her daughter and always chooses her roles with her in mind as she wants to promote positive female role models.

She said: ''From the time I had her, when I was 22, it changed my entire view of the world.

''It made me a better person, I became less of an asshole, honestly.

''Now, it's really important for me to see how women are perceived and how women are written in a show.

''Plus, who directs and who creates the show is important to me as well.

''We all struggle to do the right thing and put great work into the world for our kids, so they see an accurate representation of the world.''

The 'Morning Show' star set up her own production company to develop the kind of projects she wanted to see and she's proud of what she's done.

She told OK!: ''Before this, I was seeing a complete lack of interesting characters for women on screen and it really bothered me.

''I was seeing fantastic actresses all clamouring for one horrible part as 'the wife' or 'the girlfriend'.

''I thought, 'These women have so much more to offer.'

''We are 50 per cent of the population after all, so we should be telling 50% of the stories.

''I thought to myself, 'Well if no one else is going to develop the material, then I will.' And that's exactly what I've done.

''I've called the authors of books that interest me.

''I've called the heads of studios and I've set things up. ''It's time for women to see our real lives portrayed.''