What’s an actor to do when they’re trying to take on one of the most iconic characters in modern popular culture? For Lexi Minetree, Prime Video’s star Legally blonde Prequel deerThe meta-approach was the right way to go.
Elle Woods, the stubborn sorority girl turned Harvard Law School student played by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film, works her way into an Ivy League law school through relentless study and an outside-the-box admissions video essay. The character famously filmed herself floating in a pool and living her best sorority girl life in Southern California. Minetree couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to prove this deer The cast told her she was the right girl for the job rather than recreating the scene.
“There’s more to Elle Woods than being the extra AF and all-out production mode for this little slate,” says the 25-year-old actress. Hollywood Reporter In the last zoom. She’s promoting Season 1, which comes out on Wednesday, but at the time of this conversation, she’s filming Season 2. The second season was picked up by Amazon’s streaming device earlier this year.
The series finds high school student Elle suddenly pulled away from her luxurious life in Bel Air and forced to adapt to a more ordinary — and much less rosy — Seattle. Similar to the original film, Elle learns to leave behind some of the preconceived notions her wealthy upbringing gave her and embraces authenticity.
“I wrote the script, shot it at my home and edited it,” the actress adds in her audition tape. “I put music to it, ‘Smash Mouth’. I remember spending hours listening to it, and I was so proud of it.”
The effort was, of course, worth it. She beat out a slew of other Elle candidates in open casting to land the role, with Witherspoon, an executive producer on the previous series, announcing her casting in May 2025 and officially giving her stamp of approval. “She was incredibly supportive,” Minetree says of Witherspoon.
The young actress had a steep hill in front of her. Dealing with a character so beloved comes with difficulty, but it also creates a challenge for Minetree – how can she make Elle Woods her own? Naturally, I studied Witherspoon’s original portrayal relentlessly. “I’ve seen the movie 150 times,” says co-star Jacob Moskowitz, who plays Elle’s boyfriend, Miles.
But Maintree was determined to find her own way into Elle Woods, while still paying homage to the character Witherspoon created. “[It’s] 25 years later, people still talk about Elle Woods, citing Elle Woods, who went to law school because of Elle Woods. “It’s a crazy power that one character has,” she says.
“Whenever you reboot or use an existing IP, people feel very important about it. Of course they do,” says the actress. “I hope so Legally blonde Fans are really relieved to know that we have Reese on the team, and she is not only supportive of it, but plays an integral role in creating it.
Minetree has come full circle with Elle Woods in the past few years, as the show has become a big part of her life. But she has great recognition. “In my daily life, I feel like the pink is starting to fade a little more,” she admits. “I wear it a lot more than I thought I would. I’m a green girl.”
Below, Minetree speaks with THR About creating her own version of the character, the scene Witherspoon made her watch from the original film and how life has changed since she became the new Elle Woods.
How do you feel about everything?
I’m so excited. It’s crazy because we shot it last year. We started in February, and now we’re almost finished filming the second season. It was a long process to make it. It’s crazy to think people will see it soon.
It’s rare to get a second season before the first season airs. What was it like when you already knew you were going to jump into the next season?
It was a wonderful gift because like I said, that doesn’t happen very often. What’s interesting is that when you’re shooting the first season of something, it feels like it’s yours and the cast and crew’s, because no one really knows what it’s about yet or isn’t very invested in it. Then people watch it, and then it becomes Pandora’s box. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has something to say about it. In season two, we get to do it all again and make it our own little thing. Dare I say, maybe even [like] The second season is more than the first season because it seems that in the first season you can introduce the world and the people. In Season 2, you can jump headfirst into all of Elle’s shenanigans.
Obviously the big question is what it was like working with Reese. Did she give you any advice?
Rhys was really helpful, especially in the beginning as he helped me create the tone for Elle and remind me of certain things in the movie. I remember she sent me this message one time, and it was a clip of Elle talking to Warner at the end[of[ofLegally blonde]when he tries to get her back, she fails him. Even after everything he did to her, she was still nice. She’s never a bully. She never takes the low road, but she is resolute. I think that’s the thing that she really wanted me to carry with me was Elle’s kindness. How to forgive people because they give them the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, we don’t know what people are going through. We are not, and should not, be doormats, but we can also have grace with people and grace with ourselves.
How did you find your own version of Elle without falling into imitation of the original?
I went to theater school, and the thing about theater is that one play can be performed many times by different people. You have the same text, but two people can do it differently. It’s a shame to try to imitate what the other person did because I’m not Reese. She did something incredible, and now they are immortalized in films for people to watch whenever they want to see her performance. If you try to imitate it, it will sound like an imitation. If I didn’t bring my own experiences into this, I feel like it would have an artificial quality. You’ve done all this work up front. I spent hours and hours and hours. I’ve watched the movie an indecent number of times, seriously.
Is your life now as you imagined it when you took on this role? How did things go?
It’s been a whirlwind really. I never thought my life would turn out the way it has now, and I’m so grateful for it. I’m so grateful that I get to play this character that I really love so much. I love this show so much and I work with amazing actors who care so much about it as well, producers who care about it, and showrunners who care about it. There is a lot of love poured into this show. I also feel lucky because not many people have the time to prepare themselves [like I did]. Because it’s such a beloved IP, obviously we know some people are going to listen to it. I’ve been able to do a lot of self-reflection and work on self-love and grounding myself. I have a good group of people around me because when the series comes out, it’s Pandora’s box. Who knows what will happen? Everyone is going to have opinions and things like that. Obviously I know they’re going to love it.
