Reese Witherspoon on breaking free from an abusive relationship

Reese Witherspoon broke free from an abusive relationship at a young age, which she says helped her become the person she is today.

The actress, 41, says she suffered “verbal” and “psychological” abuse from an undisclosed tormentor before she ultimately managed to sever ties once and for all.

“It changed who I was on a cellular level, the fact that I stood up for myself,” Witherspoon told Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling during a recent sit-down interview for O, The Oprah Magazine.

“It’s part of the reason I can stand up and say, ‘Yes, I’m ambitious.’ Because someone tried to take that from me,” she explained.

Witherspoon’s poignant story came in response to Winfrey asking what the “most difficult decision” she’s ever had to make to achieve her destiny was.

“I drew a line in the sand, and it got crossed, and my brain just switched,” Witherspoon says in a filmed segment. “I couldn’t go any further. I was really young, and it was profound.”

Witherspoon, Winfrey and Kaling star together in next month’s film adaptation of “A Wrinkle In Time,” which hits theaters March 9. The movie is based off the 1962 fantasy novel written by Madeleine L’Engle.

The trio also discussed the empowering Time’s Up movement that launched earlier this year and continues to sweep the globe.

“I think our culture’s more alive and vibrant than it’s ever been,” Witherspoon said. “We’re waking ideas that have been dormant for a long time, and it’s terrifying and thrilling. Social media has opened up a conversation that was not possible even 10 years ago. Women are talking about things they’ve never spoken about, and they’re actually being heard.”

Witherspoon came forward at an Elle Women in Hollywood event in October to reveal she’d been sexual assaulted by a male director when she was 16 years old, adding that it wasn’t the only time she’s experienced sexual harassment or assault in her career.

She said at that event that she wanted to tell her story after so many other women came forward with their experiences with sexual misconduct.

“After hearing all the stories these past few days and hearing these brave women speak up tonight about things that we’re kind of told to sweep under the rug and not to talk about, it’s made me want to speak up and speak up loudly because I actually felt less alone this week than I have ever felt in my entire career,” Witherspoon said at the time, according to Deadline.

The March issue of O, The Oprah Magazine comes out on Feb. 13.