Reese Witherspoon has officially passed the torch on Legally Blonde, and done it in the most fitting way imaginable, lending the original pink dress she wore to the 2001 film premiere to the actress who will carry Elle Woods forward.
Lexi Minetree, 25, will play a teenage Elle Woods in Elle, Amazon Prime’s prequel series launching on 1 July, which follows the future Harvard Law star during her high school years in the mid-nineties.
To mark the handover, Minetree borrowed Witherspoon’s original Marc Jacobs dress from the film’s premiere 25 years ago and wore it on the Jimmy Kimmel chat show this week, a symbolic gesture that clearly delighted the woman who made the role iconic.
Witherspoon, 50, was ecstatic about her successor at a 25th anniversary celebration of the Legally Blonde franchise.
“I just could not be more proud to pass the baton or the pink torch to Lexi Minetree as the new Elle Woods,” she said.
“I love you so much. You have no idea. I’m just so proud of you.” She also revealed that Minetree’s audition tape had taken her breath away.
The celebration brought together several original cast members, with Selma Blair, Jennifer Coolidge and Ali Larter joining Witherspoon at a special Elle World pop-up event in New York on Saturday night.
Witherspoon, who is executive producing the prequel, spoke about what the franchise has always meant to her and what she hopes it will mean to a new generation.
“Twenty-five years after the world met Elle Woods for the first time, it’s a dream come true to share the story of how she became the unstoppable force we all fell in love with,” she said.
“I think our series’ themes of kindness, authenticity, and believing in yourself will resonate deeply with fans of the original films and new audiences alike.”
Season one of Elle is set in 1995, finding a younger version of the character being uprooted from glamorous Los Angeles to Seattle, where she navigates tricky friendships, forbidden romance and some questionable fashion choices along the way.
The show has already been greenlit for a second series before the first has even aired.
