(Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon said she panicked and told police "crazy things" after her husband was arrested last month for suspected drunken driving, behavior she apologized for on Thursday in her first interview about the incident.
The 37-year-old known for a squeaky-clean image told "Good Morning America" that she and talent agent husband James Toth showed "poor judgment" by driving after "one too many glasses of wine" at dinner in Atlanta, where she is filming a movie.
Toth, 42, was pulled over when he drove across a double line on the road and then failed blood-alcohol breath and field sobriety tests, according to a police report.
Police said Witherspoon, who was charged with disorderly conduct, ignored an order to stay in the car and asked an officer if he knew who she was.
"I said all kinds of crazy things," Witherspoon said in the television interview. "I told them I was pregnant. I'm not pregnant ... I have no idea what I was talking about. And I am so sorry. I was so disrespectful to him."
"I know better," she said. "It's just unacceptable."
A mother of three, Witherspoon said she was embarrassed and would take responsibility for her actions. The "Legally Blonde" star who won an Oscar in 2006 for her role as country singer June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line" is due in court on May 22.
"I think I played a lawyer in a movie so many times I think I am a lawyer," she said. "And, clearly, I'm not a lawyer because I got arrested. I learned a lot."
(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Scott Malone and Sofina Mirza-Reid)