Reese Witherspoon announces open casting call for Elle Woods for Legally Blonde prequel

Prequel series was officially announced in May

The Legally Blonde prequel series has officially started the search for their Elle Woods.

Reese Witherspoon, who first took on the role of the iconic lawyer, announced the casting call in an Instagram video on Wednesday: “Our search for the high school version of Elle Woods is officially ON!

“With our friends @primevideo we’re making the casting process totally OPEN, so you can submit your auditions at the link in my bio… I’m SO excited to see all your fabulous takes on everyone’s favourite Gemini vegetarian!”

“I can’t wait to tell you that we are starting the casting process, and we are making it open! Yes, that is right. This is an open casting for the young Elle Woods when she was in high school,” Witherspoon said in the video.

“So, send your submissions to the link in my bio. I cannot wait to see all the Elle Woods out there. This is going to be really fun!”

The prequel was announced in May at an Amazon advertisers presentation by Witherspoon, who said it would be made in partnership with Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine.

Currently titled Elle, the series will follow the iconic character through her teenage years, delving into the experiences that shaped her into the ambitious young woman viewers know from the original film.

Legally Blonde was released in July 2001 and made $141m at the worldwide box office. The comedy was nominated for two Golden Globes – one in the Best Picture – Musical or Comedy category, and one in the Best Actress – Musical or Comedy category for Witherspoon.

A sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, was released in 2003, and a musical adaptation debuted on Broadway in 2007.

The announcement of the series came amid confusion over the forthcoming third Legally Blonde film, starring Witherspoon, which was originally slated for release in 2020.

Reese Witherspoon in a scene from ‘Legally Blonde' (Tracy Bennett/MGM Pictures)

Laura Kittrell, known for writing on shows like Insecure and High School, will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Witherspoon will also serve as executive producer along with Lauren Neustadter, Lauren Kisilevsky and Marc Platt.

Two years ago, Witherspoon likened Legally Blonde 3 to the blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverickand claimed she still “hoped” the film could “come together”.

“They waited a long time to make another version of that movie, and I loved the nostalgia piece they incorporated in it,” she told USA Today.

“I feel like these characters are my friends, so I safeguard them. I would never make the subpar, mediocre version of their story.”