Reese Witherspoon has admitted that she was put through her paces by iconic actor Robert De Niro at one of her first-ever auditions.

The Hollywood beauty revealed the details of the intimidating experience as she appeared on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', reports Mirror.co.uk.

Reese, 46, discussed how she had been sent for an audition for Martin Scorcese's hit 1991 movie Cape Fear when she was just 14 years old. The Legally Blonde star headed to her appointment to try out for the part when she found herself in front of two of the biggest names in the movie business.

She said, quoted by aMirror.co.uk: "I remember one of the very first auditions I ever had was with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese for a movie called Cape Fear. I didn't get it. I'm not in that movie because I got so scared when I walked in the room; I didn't know who Robert De Niro was, so I was standing outside talking to the receptionist, and she was like, 'You know he's the most important actor of our time right?'"

Mirror.co.uk further states that Reese then admitted that she hadn't been aware who Robert was before that moment, which triggered her to become extremely nervous and forget her lines.

She continued: "He had to finish the lines for me. And then I auditioned for him ten years later, and I thought, 'He's never going to remember that I bricked that audition,' and he was like, 'I remember you; you're the one who couldn't say the word'."