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Reese Witherspoon is gearing up for her third baby, which means she'll be taking a break from moviemaking.

The Gene Siskel Film Center honored the actress with their Renaissance Award at an event at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago on Saturday. Witherspoon, 36, spoke about her pregnancy for the first time, telling reporters who remarked that she was a glowing mom-to-be, "Thanks, but frankly I'm feeling very round tonight."


She also said that being in the Windy City, known for its pizza, was stirring up some pregnancy cravings. "It's not easy," she said. "I'm always feeling like I'd like to eat everything in sight!"

Witherspoon, who is married to talent agent Jim Toth and has two children from her previous marriage to Ryan Phillippe, has been finishing up production on her latest movie, "Devil's Knot." The film, which is shooting in Atlanta and co-stars Colin Firth, is about the 1993 murder of three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Three teenagers -- later dubbed the West Memphis Three -- were accused of killing the children as a part of a satanic ritual, despite a lack of physical evidence. The trio were released last year.

Talking about the film, Witherspoon told reporters, "It happens in Arkansas, and it's what I'd say is a very American story." Adding: "And, after I finish that, I'm going to take a little time off — and go have a baby."

We knew Princess Merida could hold her own at target practice, but now we also know she can hold her own at the box office as "Brave" debuted at No. 1 this weekend, taking in $66.7 million.

Pixar's first film with a female lead protagonist also marks a first for Disney: Merida is the only tomboy to enter the famed Disney princess ecosystem, and the first one who doesn't wind up with a prince at the end of her story.

"She can save herself. She's not on a quest for 'happily ever after,'" the film's director Mark Andrews tells Yahoo! Movies. "She's on a quest to find out who she is. And that's very different,"  he adds of the archer and sword-wielding red-headed heroine who revels in adventuring through the forest atop her enormous Clydesdale, Angus.


"There's a grand tradition of Disney princesses," says "Brave" producer Katherine Sarafian, adding, "[Merida] is a Pixar hero. It's completely different from a Disney princess."

Indeed, Merida's story is markedly different than those of, for example, Ariel ("The Little Mermaid"),  Cinderella and even Disney's first African American princess Tiana ("The Princess and the Frog") -- who all needed to seal their future happiness with a kiss by a current or soon-to-be prince. Quite the opposite, Merida, voiced by Kelly Macdonald, revolts against kissing princes.



While Sarafian sets Merida apart from the rest of the pack, the fact remains Merida is now in the club. Disney theme parks have been featuring a live-in-person Merida character since about May. Accompanied by the animatronic bear cubs depicted in the film, Merida speaks with a Scottish accent and wears a huge, curly red wig. Merchandise for the animated character also appears in the princess room at World of Disney gift shop adjacent to Disneyland.


Merida is definitely breaking the mold, but one writer at Entertainment Weekly thinks she could be doing even more than that and has questioned her sexual orientation, leading many commenters to bristle at the thought.

Merida does not seem to be trapped in the closet by any means, but she does exemplify a recent trend in big box office heroines launched by that other archer Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in "The Hunger Games" as well as Kristen Stewart's warrior spin on the classic fairytale character in "Snow White and the Huntsman" and even the upcoming "The Amazing Spider-Man," which is said to have more focus on Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) and her relationship with Spidey.

It is clear that Merida has not only changed her own fate, but the fate of Disney's princess system altogether.