Reese Witherspoon is poised to hand over the pink baton to a fresh, vibrant Elle Woods. On Thursday, the actress took to Instagram with an announcement that sent waves of excitement through her fans: Lexi Minetree has landed the coveted role of Elle Woods in the upcoming "Legally Blonde" prequel series, titled "Elle." This series promises to delve into Woods' high school years, chronicling her journey before she embarked on her Harvard adventure.
"Allow me to introduce you to the new face of Elle Woods! After poring over countless outstanding auditions for the new Elle prequel series on @PrimeVideo, we have finally found our star. And today, I had the honor of delivering this thrilling news personally," Witherspoon captioned her post.
In the accompanying video, Witherspoon can be seen engaging in a heartfelt conversation with Minetree before sharing the incredible news. "We faced a challenging decision recently, and we wanted to tell you in person because you've worked tirelessly. Well, you won't have to audition anymore because you've landed the role. You are Elle Woods," Witherspoon revealed with a smile.
Minetree, tears welling up in her eyes, immediately expressed her desire to call her mother and share the joyous news. "When I saw her audition tape, I thought, 'Are we twins?'" Witherspoon joked to Minetree's mother, who had mentioned how much they sounded alike.
Witherspoon, who originated the iconic role in the 2001 film "Legally Blonde" and its 2003 sequel, has been open about her search for the new Elle Woods. During an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," she shared that watching all the audition tapes had been "such a blast," adding, "I adored every single one of them; they did an outstanding job."
Witherspoon will executive produce the upcoming series under her Hello Sunshine banner. Series creator and showrunner Laura Kittrell will also serve as an executive producer, along with Hello Sunshine's Lauren Neustadter and Lauren Kisilevsky, and Marc Platt, the producer of the "Legally Blonde" films.
