Reese Witherspoon has officially passed the torch legally blonde, and she did it in the most fitting way imaginable, lending the original pink dress she wore to the 2001 film’s premiere to the actress who will take on Elle Woods.
Lexi Minetree, 25, will play a teenage Elle Woods in Elle, the Amazon Prime prequel series launching July 1 that follows the future Harvard Law star during her high school years in the mid-’90s.
To commemorate the passing, Minetree borrowed Witherspoon’s original Marc Jacobs dress from the film’s premiere 25 years ago and wore it on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show this week, a symbolic gesture that clearly delighted the woman who made the role iconic.
Witherspoon, 50, was elated with her successor at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Legally blonde franchise.
“I couldn’t 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 so proud of you.” She also revealed that Minetree’s audition tape had left her breathless.
The celebration reunited 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, executive producer of the prequel, spoke about what the franchise has always meant to her and what she hopes it means to a new generation.
“Twenty-five years after the world first met Elle Woods, it’s a dream come true to share the story of how she became the unstoppable force we all fell in love with,” he said.
“I believe the themes of our series – kindness, authenticity and self-belief – will resonate deeply with fans of the original films and new audiences alike.”
first season of she is set in 1995, and finds a younger version of the character uprooted from glamorous Los Angeles to Seattle, where she navigates complicated friendships, forbidden romances, and some questionable fashion decisions along the way.
The show was already greenlit for a second series before the first series had even aired.
