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EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine are getting closer to finding the next Elle Woods to lead its upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series.
Lexi Minetree (The Murdaugh Murders) and Madison Wolfe (True Detective, Mayfair Witches) have tested for the role, Deadline has learned. According to inside sources, no decision has been made yet; one is expected soon. Reps for Amazon MGM Studios and Hello Sunshine declined to comment for this story.
The two have emerged as finalists in an extensive casting process that saw dozens of young actresses audition for the potentially star-making part that famously catapulted Witherspoon into the ranks of Hollywood’s A-list after she portrayed the character as an adult in the hit romantic comedy Legally Blonde (2001) and its sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003).
Witherspoon opened up about the auditioning process, which has been going on for about three months, during a recent visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon saying, she’s looked at “so many tapes” and they’ve been “so fun to watch.” She was inspired to get a prequel going after watching Netflix’s Wednesday, hoping to show Elle’s life before college and law school.
“I just love them all so much and they’re doing such a good job,” she said of the young actresses auditioning.
Both Wolfe and Minetree are up-and-coming actresses who share physical similarities with Witherspoon. Wolfe’s credits include AMC’s Mayfair Witches, HBO’s True Detective and the CBS series Zoo; and on film The Conjuring 2, The Campaign and Trafficked. Minetree has appeared in The Murdaugh Murders, various short films, the Lifetime TV movie My Amish Double Life, and Law & Order: SVU.
Created by Laura Kittrell (High School, Insecure), who will serve as showrunner, the prequel series follows Elle Woods in high school as we learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film. The series is set years before the events in the first movie, which kicked off as Elle Woods (Witherspoon) graduated from college and headed to Harvard Law to pursue a legal career.
Kittrell executive produces with Hello Sunshine’s Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter and Lauren Kisilevsky as well the Legally Blonde movie franchise producer Marc Platt. Elle is produced by Hello Sunshine and Amazon MGM Studios.
