Unknown Actress Lands Role as Teenage Elle Woods

A little-known actress from suburban Atlanta just became the teenage version of one of film's most beloved feminist icons.

Lexi Minetree, 25, landed the starring role in "Elle," Amazon Prime Video's prequel series to "Legally Blonde," after sending in what she calls an "absolutely ridiculous" audition tape. Channeling the original movie's famous Harvard application scene, she filmed herself in a pink bikini in a hot tub, lifting two-pound weights, crocheting, and juggling limes.

"She is ridiculous, because she doesn't care about being cringey," Minetree said of Elle Woods. "She just is herself and owns it, which I love."

The series premieres Wednesday and shows how Elle Woods became the sparkplug who would later conquer Harvard Law School. Set in 1995, the show follows 16-year-old Elle as her family leaves the luxury of Bel Air, California for grunge-era Seattle. Instead of starting as the confident sorority president from the 2001 film, this Elle struggles to fit in and questions her pink, perky approach to life.

Reese Witherspoon, who played Elle in the original movie and executive produced the series, said she immediately connected with Minetree's tape. "I was like, are we the same person?" Witherspoon said.

Minetree grew up watching "Legally Blonde" as a comfort movie. "It was so empowering to watch," she said. The eldest child in a blended family with two accountant parents, she found her place among theater kids and graduated from USC with a double major in theater and public relations.

Why This Inspires

The series came from a 2023 conversation between Witherspoon and producing partner Lauren Neustadter about teenage girls facing negative messages on social media. "Reese was the one that said, 'I think this generation needs Elle Woods,'" Neustadter recalled.

Since the original film, Elle Woods has become a massive cultural influence. Witherspoon says women now make up the majority of law school students, and many credit the movie with inspiring them to attend. The character's message that you can be yourself and still achieve tremendous things resonates even stronger today.

For Minetree, playing comedy in six-inch heels was new territory after roles in Lifetime movies like "The Paramedic Who Stalked Me." But she brings something essential to young Elle that the original didn't need: vulnerability. "As a 16-year-old girl, you internalize what people say," said showrunner Laura Kittrell.

The series shows Elle learning that the world is bigger and more complex than her Bel Air bubble, discovering new things to care about beyond shopping and sorority life. She's still Elle Woods, just not fully formed yet.

Minetree hopes today's young women will see themselves in this version of the character and remember that confidence is something you build, not something you're born with.