Consider the search for Elle Woods over. In a video released Thursday, Reese Witherspoon shared how she told pink-clad actor Lexi Minetree that she w
Consider the search for Elle Woods over. In a video released Thursday, Reese Witherspoon shared how she told pink-clad actor Lexi Minetree that she will play an adolescent Elle in Amazon’s upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series.
“Allow me to introduce you to the new Elle Woods! After watching so many incredible auditions for the new Elle prequel series on @PrimeVideo, we finally found our Elle. And today, I got to break the news myself!” the Oscar winner wrote on social media, tagging Minetree, whose biggest previous credit is Tubi series The Murdaugh Murders.
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Created by Laura Kittrell (Insecure, High School), who also serves as co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Caroline Dries, Elle follows Elle Woods in her pre-Harvard high school days. Earlier this week, Deadline reported that Minetree was one of two finalists for the iconic role—the other being Madison Wolfe, who played a younger Elisabeth Röhm in David O. Russell’s Joy.
The origin story arrives decades after 2001’s original Legally Blonde, the 2003 sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, and a direct-to-video film in 2009, Legally Blondes. A Broadway musical based on the first film also debuted in 2007, and it later led to an MTV reality series about casting the replacement for Laura Bell Bundy, who originated the role of Elle Woods onstage.
During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Witherspoon said she was inspired to executive produce an Elle Woods prequel by another hit TV series. “I saw that Wednesday Addams show [Netflix’s Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega],” she said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, she was in high school,’ I loved it. I watched every episode. I thought it was amazing. And I was like, ‘We should do Elle Woods in high school,’ because I wanted to see who she was before college, before law school. And I started having all these ideas, and these amazing writers came up with a great pitch. And now Amazon is making the show.”
Also in the works? A third Legally Blonde film, cowritten by Mindy Kaling and Emmy-winning Parks and Rec alum Dan Goor. But that project has stagnated in development since being announced all the way back in 2020. Kaling addressed the delay in an interview with Time in March 2022. “We don’t want to be responsible for ruining what’s basically Reese’s Avengers franchise,” she said, acknowledging the special considerations required for bringing Elle Woods into the current moment. “What is Elle Woods like at 42? Does she end up becoming all the things she wanted? How does that personality manifest in a grown woman? Has she become more cynical? Her brightness and her cheerfulness really worked when she was 22, but how has life changed her perspective on things?”
There is currently no further casting details or an official release date for Elle.
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