Before she conquered Harvard Law, Elle Woods had to survive high school – and now we’ll get to see how she did it. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Reese Witherspoon revealed fascinating details about the casting process for Prime Video’s upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle. The actress, who originated the iconic role in 2001 and its 2003 sequel, shared that she’s currently reviewing audition tapes for the young actress who will portray the teenage version of her beloved character. The series, which emerged from Witherspoon’s appreciation of Netflix’s Wednesday, promises to explore Elle Woods’ formative years in the 1990s.
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“Now it’s different because we used to audition, and we’d go into a casting office,” Witherspoon explained to Fallon. “Now they have to shoot, produce, do all the costumes [for auditions]. They have to put together videos that are basically like a mini movie. It’s crazy!” The actress expressed enthusiasm about the talent pool, stating that those who are auditioning are “killing it,” making the final selection “a really hard decision.”
The series’ development gained momentum after Amazon Studios acquired MGM’s catalog in March 2022. Creator and showrunner Laura Kittrell, known for her work on Insecure and Black Monday, will executive produce alongside Witherspoon through her Hello Sunshine banner. The project aims to reveal “the life experiences that shaped [Elle] into the iconic young woman we came to know and love.”
“I saw that Wednesday Addams show and I was like, ‘Oh, she was in high school.’ I loved it. I watched every episode,” Witherspoon shared about her inspiration for the prequel. “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.’”
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The original Legally Blonde, based on Amanda Brown’s novel, became a cultural phenomenon, grossing over $140 million worldwide and spawning a sequel, a direct-to-video spinoff, and a successful Broadway musical. The franchise follows the journey of Elle Woods, a fashion-savvy sorority president who defies expectations by pursuing a law degree at Harvard after a devastating breakup.
While the long-anticipated Legally Blonde 3 remains in development with Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor attached as writers, this prequel series represents a fresh approach to the beloved character. As Witherspoon enthusiastically declared on Instagram, “Before she became the most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law, she was just a regular ’90s high school girl. And all of you are going to get to know her…”
The series will stream exclusively on Prime Video, though a release date has yet to be announced. The project joins Amazon MGM Studios’ initiative to develop new content from their recently acquired properties, which includes potential series based on franchises like Barbershop, RoboCop, and Pink Panther.
