In celebration of new Prime Video series Elle, which follows a high school version of Elle Woods, the cast of Legally Blonde publicly reunited over the weekend for the first time since the film’s release 25 years ago.
Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Coolidge, Selma Blair, Ali Larter, Matthew Davis and Victor Garber stepped out at “Elle World,” an immersive fan event that took over Manhattan’s Hall des Lumières on Saturday. Along with posing for photos together and with the new Elle cast — which sees newcomer Lexi Minetree taking over Witherspoon’s iconic role — the original stars also sat down for a conversation moderated by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers.
“When I walked in and I saw this moment, it just felt like it was galvanizing how I felt about playing this character — I’m gonna cry,” Witherspoon told the crowd as she held back tears. “Playing this character for 25 years has been the privilege of my life, just because people come up to me and they tell me stories about how they go to law school because of her or they named their daughter Elle or they overcame some incredible challenge in their life because she did that. She went through this experience of feeling like everybody was looking down on her or judged her, and I don’t know a person on earth who hasn’t felt like an underdog in some situation. Watching this happen is extremely emotional for me, and I’m really just so touched that you’re all here,” she said, turning to her fellow Legally Blonde alum.
The actors recounted the famous lines that are most often said back to them by fans, as Coolidge also teased, “I was so lucky to get cast in this movie, and it is one of my favorite jobs of all time, but I stupidly thought that when I was auditioning, I thought I was going to be Elle.” The night closed out with two surprise musical performances, with Hoku performing “Perfect Day” from the film’s opening sequence and Vanessa Carlton singing “A Thousand Miles,” which is also featured in the movie.
As for the upcoming series, which Witherspoon is producing via her Hello Sunshine company, Elle follows Elle Woods in 1995 as she navigates the tumultuous waters of high school in her Seattle hometown. June Diane Raphael and Tom Everett Scott play her parents as Elle navigates tricky friendships, forbidden romance and questionable fashion choices. The show starts streaming July 1 on Prime Video.
