TheLegally Blondeprequel seriesEllehas found its lead. The show, which is executive produced by original star Reese Witherspoon, will follow the teenage years of future sorority girl turned Harvard law student Elle Woods, who was the lead of the 2001 movieLegally Blondeand its 2003 sequelRed, White, & Blonde. An open casting call for the title role in theupcomingEllebegan in September 2024. Earlier in the week, the process had reportedly been narrowed down to a few finalists, including young actors Lexi Minetree and Madison Wolfe.
On her official Instagram account,Reese Witherspoonshared a video announcing thatthe part of Elle Woods inEllehas gone to Lexi Minetree. In the video, which features a caption celebrating that “we finally found our Elle,” Witherspoon sits down with Minetree while both are dressed in pink. Witherspoon shares that “we had to make a really hard decision” while an overlay shows footage from Minetree’s audition tape, which is a recreation of Elle Woods' video application to Harvard from the original movie.
While Witherspoon at first makes it seem like she may be delivering a rejection, she eventually says,“you don’t have to audition anymore, because you got the part.“Minetree responds by crying, hugging Witherspoon, and calling her mom in the joyous video. See the post below:
Minetreealso shared the video to her own Instagram account, with a caption profusely thanking “my family, friends, and reps who believe in me and my silly lil dreams,” as well as Amazon MGM Studios, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, and everyone involved in the audition process. She also thanked her hairdresser who helped her dye her hair, saying,“Don’t worry Amazon, I won’t be changing from blonde ANYTIME soon!“See her post below:
What This Means For Elle
Lexi Minetree’s Legally Blonde Role Is Huge
This casting announcement for the prequel to the iconicReese Witherspoon moviehighlights just how similar Lexi Minetree is to the original Elle Woods star. In addition to having them both wear Elle’s signature color and showing how Minetree’s audition tape deftly mimics an originalLegally Blondescene, the video showcasing the duo together reveals howtheir voices and bubbly personalities also match one another more or less perfectly.
[Lexi Minetree’s career began] with a lead role in the 2023 Lifetime movieThe Paramedic Who Stalked Me.
The role of Elle Woods promises to be a starmaking turn for Minetree, who only has a few credits to her name outside of short films. All five credits are from the past two years, beginning with a lead role in the 2023 Lifetime movieThe Paramedic Who Stalked Me. She followed this with roles in the Tubi originalThe Murdagh Murders, Lifetime’sCrowdsource Murder, and the Soviet historical dramaSerov.She also joined theLaw & Order: Special Victims Unitcastfor an episode of the long-running procedural drama in 2024.
Our Take On The Elle Casting Announcement
More Updates Will Probably Come Soon
The fact that the lead role ofEllehas finally been cast likely means that the wheels will start turning much more quickly on pre-production for the series. The prequel is currently set to hit Prime Video by the end of 2025, soit seems highly likely that more casting announcements will come soon. Now that the title role has been secured, it will also be easier for potential actors to perform chemistry tests with Minetree to make sure she can be surrounded by the best ensemble possible.
