Legally Blonde Secrets That Are Just Like College, Only Funner

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In the past, a woman from California made up her mind to attend Stanford Law School – not because it was the choice of Elle Woods in the movie “Legally Blonde“, but rather due to its close proximity to Neiman Marcus. Let me tell you about another interesting character later on.

Amanda Brown, an alumna of Arizona State University, confessed to the San Francisco Chronicle that she enrolled at Stanford in the early ’90s. She explained that during her interview, she was so captivated by the mall that she spent time exploring the Polo Store and Neiman’s, becoming overly preoccupied with them.

With what she called “very good” test scores, she got in easily. What? Like it’s hard? 

Apparently not, though it does turn out that law school isn’t for everyone.

During her initial week, Brown attended a gathering of The Women of Stanford Law, only to discover that it was highly improbable for her to encounter someone who enjoyed shopping and perusing Elle magazine as much as she did. The individual leading the event had spent three years at Stanford attempting to alter the term ‘semester’ to ‘ovester,’ she reminisced (does this sound familiar?). Upon hearing this, Brown started laughing, but soon realized that everyone in the room treated it with utmost seriousness. Consequently, she failed to make any friends there.

In various places, especially during breaks from lectures, Brown often wrote letters to relatives and acquaintances, satirizing the people she met, such as a rather unpleasant Star Trek fan who suggested she should simply return home and get married immediately.

She transformed over 300 pages of notes into “Legally Blonde,” a heartwarming story emphasizing the idea that one should never make assumptions about a book based solely on its appearance.

She shared her unique novel, which stood out on pink paper, as she believed it added an extra touch (I hope you agree?), immediately sending it to various studios and publishing houses the same day. The response was largely dismissive of it as a book, but there was intense competition for its film rights – MGM ultimately secured them in a bidding war.

At age 24, Reese Witherspoon was cast as our beloved Gemini vegetarian character Elle Woods, and Selma Blair, who played Elle’s rival Vivian Kensington, remarked during their 2020 reunion that Witherspoon was so convincing in the role that it felt authentic. This led to Blair enthusiastically agreeing to join the cast.

Despite lowered anticipations, the comedy’s opening on July 13, 2001, shattered expectations with a massive $141 million box office take, far surpassing the predicted $12 million for its first weekend.

Subsequently, the film received Golden Globe nominations for both itself and Witherspoon, followed by the $125 million grossing sequel “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde” in 2003. A Broadway musical adaptation was also produced in 2007. Persistent requests and appeals led not only to the production of “Legally Blonde 3”, but also to a Prime Video prequel series titled “Elle”, which Witherspoon announced with a signature bend-and-snap gesture in May 2024.

What an excellent demonstration of Elle Woods’ immense value! After all, she wasn’t afraid to judge a tighty-whitey competition for the sorority Lambda Kappa Pi. Rest assured, she can manage any situation with ease.

To mark both the beginning of filming and the original movie’s anniversary, we gathered intriguing backstage insights from the actors and crew members that will make you feel like you’re reliving your most enjoyable college senior year…but with even more excitement!

1. Amanda Brown, the author of ‘Legally Blonde’, found her inspiration during a torts lecture. She told Stanford Magazine in 2001 that she wanted to create a humorous take on law school. Most details were drawn from her personal life, and many anecdotes made it into the 2001 comedy. Although Elle Woods’ law school was changed from Stanford to Harvard as Brown’s alma mater didn’t want to be linked with the film, some elements like her fondness for pink stationery and debating over semesters remained.

2. The toilet paper vote incident in ‘Legally Blonde’ was based on a real-life event. Co-screenwriter Karen McCullah had a similar experience at Virginia’s James Madison University, where the administration refused her sorority’s request for Charmin instead of generic. She shared with Montpelier Magazine that they resorted to stealing replacement rolls from the administration building to avoid discomfort, earning activity points for their efforts.

3. As Elle Woods, who had recently ended her career at Stanford, Reese Witherspoon immersed herself in the college lifestyle, attending law classes at Loyola Law School and socializing with sorority members at the University of Southern California to gain insight into their habits, as she put it, similar to an anthropological study. “I learn what they eat, how they behave, how they take care of their young, that sort of thing,” she told Entertainment Weekly in 2001.

On the other hand, Matthew Davis drew inspiration for his portrayal of Elle’s soon-to-be ex, Warner Huntington III (the character seeking a Jackie rather than a Marilyn), by modeling his performance after that of George W. Bush, by reading the then-president’s biography to better understand his demeanor and actions.

In just months following the birth of her now-adult daughter Ava Phillippe with then-spouse Ryan Phillippe in September 1999, Witherspoon found herself taking on a role. She shared with Cinema.com that some nights, Ava would wake up sick and scream, keeping Witherspoon up all night trying to get her back to sleep. Then, she had to be on set at 7 am for makeup. To add to the challenge, she was required to play a cheerful and energetic California prep character who was always smiling! She often thought, “I’m going to die! I’ll never survive this!

In actuality, we almost crossed paths with another famous blonde who had donned last season’s Prada footwear the previous year. As the script for the role was being handed to Christina Applegate, she was wrapping up her ten-year stint as Kelly Bundy on “Married… with Children.” In an interview with ETonline in 2015, she admitted to shying away from the part due to fear of repetition, stating, “What a foolish decision that was, wasn’t it?

6. In the meantime, Luke Wilson didn’t have to go through an audition process to portray Elle’s eventual love interest, Emmett. Co-screenwriter Kirsten Smith shared with Insider that they persistently communicated with the casting director, emphasizing “Luke Wilson, Luke Wilson!”. Eventually, after a table read where another actor was initially cast as Emmett, they insisted again, “Luke Wilson, Luke Wilson!” And he agreed, saying it was a great idea. They responded, “We’ve been telling you!

Originally, Ali Larter was thought to be one of Elle’s sorority sisters. However, she saw an opportunity and auditioned for the role of Brooke Windham, a fitness guru accused of murdering her older husband. When she read Brooke’s jailhouse liposuction confession (“It’s not like normal women can have this ass!”) to director Robert Luketic during the audition, she remembered thinking, “I need to show him that I really want this role and can make it believable and fun.” She grabbed her own behind as hard as she could and went for it. Luketic responded, “Alright, you got it girl. You committed.” This happened during the cast’s reunion in October 2020.

As an ardent fan, I couldn’t help but pull out all the stops to secure a role as Elle’s sorority sister Serena in the movie. Jessica Cauffiel, who was already cast as Delta Nu Margot, remembers our chance encounter in the bathroom during the chemistry read.

She recalls me saying, “Hey, hey, are you in this movie?” During our conversation, I had borrowed her red lipstick, but then made a more daring request. I remember asking for her help to land the job, telling her, “I’m broke and need to pay rent; can you assist me?” With her infectious humor and audacity, she agreed, saying, “Okay.”

To convince the casting directors, I feigned a quick call with Cauffiel while instead returning to read with her. We choreographed synchronized moves in our effort to show that we were perfectly in tune. In fact, I deliberately let her shine during the audition, hoping it would help me land the role. Fortunately, my gambit worked, and since then, Jessica Cauffiel has been more than just a fellow actress – she’s become my best friend!

9. Ubach’s creativity proved useful on set as she perfectly executed the manicure scene with Cauffiel. During a conversation with a charming Vietnamese background actress at the cast reunion, she playfully suggested, “What if we became regulars at this nail salon to such an extent that I learn Vietnamese from immersion?”

After rehearsing her lines for an hour—”She’ll never get him back with those cuticles”—she requested permission from director Luketic to try something. Ubach jokingly said, “He responded, ‘Sure, you’re strange. Just go ahead and do your thing; we’ll see if it works or not.’

10. In truth, Luketic was quite receptive to any outlandish suggestion. As Cauffiel put it, the first-time feature film director allowed them a great deal of autonomy. He even approved Cauffiel’s proposal for Margot to trip off the pedestal during the bridal salon scene. “I asked him, ‘Robert, can I fall?'” she reminisced. “And he replied, ‘Give her a mattress! Give her a mattress!’

11. During the 2020 reunion, Davis admitted that he felt out of his depth during his first major film role as Warner. He was fresh off the farm in Salt Lake City, Utah and couldn’t leave Utah fast enough to land a part in the movie called Legally Blonde. Being a bit starstruck with his costars (“I think he had a crush on everyone,” Cauffiel told The New York Times), Davis confessed that he was nervous throughout the entire experience.

12. Twenty years later, Davis is still criticized for Warner’s callous treatment of his college sweetheart, Elle Woods, during their dinner date (“If I’m going to be a senator by the time I’m 30, I need to stop messing around”). After that, he proposed to Vivian Kensington, another Harvard law student (played by Selma Blair). Despite later roles in shows like Damages, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies, people still refer to him as the jerk from Legally Blonde. However, Witherspoon defended Davis during a virtual get-together, stating that he is one of the nicest people around. “He was just playing a character,” she said.

13. Filming Elle’s law school application video proved more challenging than securing admission into Harvard Law, as Revealed by Witherspoon. To be precise, the day she and Cauffiel shot the pool scene in Pasadena, where Elle showcased her impressive memory skills by recalling intricate details about Hope being mind-controlled by Stefano on ‘Days of Our Lives’, it was reportedly sweltering hot. Cauffiel humorously pointed out the difficulty in making Margot appear effortlessly drifting in and out of the shot on her float, questioning if there wasn’t someone using a stick to maneuver it.

During the first day of filming Elle’s law school scenes at UCLA, which stood in for Harvard, it was scorching hot. Revealing a wardrobe choice aimed at channeling a cooler autumnal Boston feel—a button-down shirt with a tie beneath a belted sweater—the actress admitted she was drenched in sweat. The costume designer had to intervene and emphasize the importance of Elle appearing professional, with Witherspoon adding, “Sophie de Rakoff said ‘You are wearing this sweater. You are buttoning up the collar…it has to be this way.’ And I complied.

15. It’s only right that the Oscar-winning actress got to retain every outfit she donned in the movie, as she mentioned on Instagram. She revealed that they are all carefully preserved in tissue paper and stored in a secure unit. She takes special care of them.

16. Nearly memorizing a musical number with a snap, our cast had been working for a month on an enhanced song-and-dance rendition of the nail salon scene. This version featured Elle showcasing a move that in her experience has a high success rate (83%) in securing dinner invitations. However, as explained by Witherspoon, it felt out of place because there was only one musical sequence.

17. The move that people continue to ask Witherspoon to demonstrate originated at a bar in Beverly Hills. During this time, screenwriters McCullah and Smith were brainstorming ideas for a secondary plot set in the nail salon. “We were going off on tangents,” McCullah shared with Insider. “Maybe it gets robbed, all sorts of crazy stuff.” Once they realized a simpler narrative about Elle helping Paulette win her crush’s affection would suffice, Smith jumped from her barstool and demonstrated the move. The name was spontaneously created on the spot, as Smith humorously suggested, “There should really be a plaque there, honestly.

18. In post-production, the ending of the film underwent a significant transformation, as originally it concluded with Elle triumphing in court and sharing a kiss with Emmett on the courthouse steps. This was followed by a scene set a year later, where Elle and Vivian had become friends, Vivian sported a new blonde hairstyle, they had established the Blond Legal Defense Club, and were distributing flyers around campus. This was the ending as written in Smith’s manuscript, but after receiving strong feedback from test audiences, we decided to alter it. People didn’t want the story to end with a kiss; instead, they perceived it as more about Elle’s personal victory, which was quite rewarding to hear.

19. Crafting Elle’s inspiring graduation speech required some creative problem-solving. During the filming of this scene, Reese Witherspoon (Elle) was working on another project in London at Dulwich College, while other actors filmed their parts back in California. Given her role adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play, Witherspoon wore a wig, as did Wilson, who had shaved his head for The Royal Tenenbaums.

For Witherspoon, who abandoned her college studies at Stanford to embark on an acting journey, she enthusiastically stated during the 2020 cast reunion, “This is where I attended college,” she exclaimed. “I didn’t complete college but I completed Legally Blonde.”

People frequently echo her iconic lines (“What? Like it’s hard?” being the most popular), yet what truly delights her are the countless career accomplishments that have been attributed to the movie. “I don’t think any of us knew how significant this film would become or the impact it would have on young women and people worldwide,” Witherspoon reminisced. “What really tugs at my heartstrings, though, is when people tell me, ‘I went to law school because of Elle Woods.’ That’s truly incredible.”

In essence, she finds great joy whenever the film is mentioned, as she shared with TopMob News during the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards: “Anytime someone brings up Legally Blonde, it really resonates with me, so please understand that.

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2025-07-13 10:17