Reese said she left the relationship because she was "psychologically and verbally'' abused.
The 41-year-old, who was once married to Ryan Phillippe with whom she has two children with, said that the experience of being in such a bad relationship has profoundly changed her.
''I could never be the person I am today. It changed who I was on a cellular level, the fact that I stood up for myself," she insisted in an interview with Oprah's Q magazine.
"People say to me that knew me then, 'You're a completely different person'. I didn't have self-esteem. I'm a different person now and it's part of why I can stand up and say, 'yes, I'm ambitious' - because someone tried to take that from me before.''

.@RWitherspoon and @mindykaling join @Oprah on our March cover—aka Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which and Mrs. Who ✨  https://t.co/V2oeVopWxD pic.twitter.com/J8MYt7oQJP

— O The Oprah Magazine (@O_Magazine) February 6, 2018