Twenty-five years ago, a hot-pink halter dress and a 4.0 GPA shattered the “dumb blonde” trope. Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods proved that femininity and fierce intellect could dominate the same courtroom. Now, Prime Video’s Elle takes audiences back to where it all began.
Set in 1995, the series follows a 16-year-old Elle Woods as her life takes an unexpected turn. She leaves behind the sunny, polished world of Bel-Air and lands in Seattle, where grunge is in, flannel is everywhere and fitting in suddenly isn’t so easy. It’s a coming-of-age story about the girl before Harvard and for newcomer Lexi Minetree, stepping into one of pop culture’s most iconic roles was as exciting as it was intimidating.
Finding the right guide in Reese Witherspoon
Landing the role of Elle Woods was a dream come true for Lexi Minetree. She was chosen by Reese Witherspoon herself. The Hollywood star, who returns as an executive producer on the series, personally called Lexi after her chemistry read to tell her she had landed the part.
For Reese, the prequel is a chance to show how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity, in ways that only our beloved Elle could do. For Lexi, however, sharing the journey with the woman who made Elle Woods an icon was both exciting and intimidating.
“I think in the beginning I was very intimidated because it was Reese Witherspoon and enough said there,” Lexi reveals in an interview with Hindustan Times.
Any nerves quickly disappeared once they started working together. Lexi says Witherspoon made her feel welcome from day one and was always ready to help whenever she needed guidance. She says, “She just has such a warm presence about her that she just makes you feel very at ease. She’s been so supportive this entire time… it’s crazy that she’s just like a one voice memo away and I get to pick her brain on things.”
Making the role feel authentic
One of Lexi Minetree’s toughest tasks was making audiences believe she was Elle Woods without simply trying to be Reese Witherspoon. Anyone who watched her audition tape, where she recreated Elle’s iconic Harvard admission video, could see just how much landing this role would mean to her. But once she was cast, she knew imitation wasn’t the answer. Since audiences had never met teenage Elle before, there was room to imagine who she was before Harvard, before the courtroom and before the confidence everyone remembers.
“I kind of knew going in that I was going to do a mix of both just because one, I think audiences are so smart nowadays and they can sense right away when something’s up and when someone’s trying to mimic someone and not really being authentic,” Lexi explains.
Rather than chasing every expression or line delivery from Reese’s performance, Lexi held on to the character’s warmth while bringing in her own natural energy, humour and quirks. The result is a younger Elle who instantly feels familiar, but never like she’s trying to be a copy of the original.
Looking ahead to season 2
Before audiences even got to meet this younger Elle Woods, Prime Video had already greenlit a second season. The surprise announcement came from none other than Reese Witherspoon herself, who gathered the cast to share the news.
For Lexi Minetree, jumping straight back into Elle’s world felt almost unreal. But filming Season 2 before the show’s release also gave the cast a rare chance to enjoy the experience together, away from public opinion and expectations.
“It is kind of a special thing when it’s just yours for a moment,” she reflects. “When we were filming season two, I think we all kind of had this feeling of deep appreciation of getting to work together because we kind of knew it was the last time we’d all get to work together with it just being ours and not the whole world’s,” she concludes.