While a new actress has taken on Elle Woods’ signature shade of blonde, Reese Witherspoon will always be synonymous with the character’s roots.
Jason Moore, who directed the first two episodes of Prime Video‘s Elle, recently explained how executive producer Witherspoon influenced the titular character in the Legally Blonde prequel series, the first season of which is now available to stream.
“They had tried to develop a Legally Blonde 3 movie for years and I think she started to ask the question, ‘How did Elle [Woods] become who she was?’” Moore told People. “Reese is such a great steward of the character and knows it so well. It’s defined a lot of her life, she would say that. And she has such a close relationship with it, that it comes very easily for her.”
After originating the character of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (2001) and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003), Witherspoon’s three children also served as inspiration for the series.
“Reese is a mom, so she brought a lot of her like, ‘Here’s what my kids were going through and what I remember about being a young girl.’ The thing that I found amazing — that I thought might be more difficult — is how generous she was with it,” added Moore. “I think she realizes she is Elle Woods, but Elle Woods has come to represent things for a lot of people.
Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods in ‘Elle’
Jessica Brooks/Prime Video
“In all of our meetings, she wanted to hear new ideas. College Elle has all of her sh*t together, a lot of it, except she now hasn’t faced the real world of what it means to be considered successful or Harvard successful. What is it like when you’re a young person trying to figure it out?” he explained.
Created by Laura Kittrell, Elle stars Lexi Minetree as the titular future Harvard law student Elle Woods, following her struggle to fit in as a high school student in Seattle. Kittrell previously told Deadline how they kept the character “fundamentally” the same.
“I think a fundamental part of who Elle is as a character is this lightness and joy and this optimism,” she said. “So, we wanted to make sure, even if we were having her be a fish out of water, we were never taking away the core of who she is as a person.
Kittrell added, “We have her learning from Seattle, and the kinds of things that our characters care about, and how they view the world. But we never wanted to give her those lessons and take away who she fundamentally is.”
