You don’t have to ask Elle star and Hollywood newcomer Lexi Minetree if she is a fan of Legally Blonde: The Musical to know that songs like “Chip On Your Shoulder” are on repeat in her trailer.
Sitting down with DECIDER to chat about her role in the new Prime Video prequel based on Legally Blonde, Minetree — who was joined by costars Chandler Kinney and Gabrielle Policano — Minetree said that her love of the musical birthed from the Reese Witherspoon film runs deep and consistently finds from time to time.
“Gay or European?!” the actress said excitedly, naming one of her favorite songs from the show and sharing that her connection to Elle Woods has been present for a while, even if only through proximity. “I did do a 24-hour musical of my college of Legally Blonde, and I played Margot, not Elle Woods.”
In the movie and the musical, Margot is one of Elle’s Delta Nu sorority sisters and is part of her close trio of friends who support her on her quest to get into Harvard and then cheer her on while at school. The movie version of the character was played by Jessica Cauffiel while the Broadway role was originated by now Tony nominee Annaleigh Ashford.
“I love the musical so so so much,” Minetree told DECIDER, adding that the cast of Elle even got the opportunity to have a bonding experience involving the musical in British Columbia. “We actually went to go see it as a cast when we were filming Season 1 at a local community theater, and it was so wonderful to see it. It felt very serendipitous that they were doing that show at the same time we were filming.”
To that, Policano — who plays Liz, one of Elle’s only friends in Seattle in the prequel series — added that it happened again as they were filming the second season of the show, which Prime Video renewed back in January. “And then again, in Season 2, there was a different production happening,” Policano, who hails from the theater world, shared as Minetree retorted, “Legally Blonde is in, baby, I guess.”
“Everlasting,” added Kinney.
Of course, like the character the series is named after, Elle is intent on creating its own unique and “everlasting” fanbase by giving the world new stories of how Elle Woods became her fabulous self, long before she made it to college, met Warner, and ended up at Harvard Law School. To do that, the team set out to create memorable (and hilarious) moments that will stick with the fans for years to come.
With the task of giving viewers a compelling story also comes the dream that they might just give the world lines as iconic as some of the original quips from the movie. And given that each episode is titled a different quote from Legally Blonde, you can tell just how badly the entire cast and crew want everyone to join in on some of their favorite lines from the show.
“One of my favorite lines ever, just because it’s so fun to say, is, ‘You know, you really should make a habit of keeping a non-expired pen on your person at all times in the event of an anaphylactic emergency,’” Minetree shared, referencing a line that Elle says in Episode 6. At that mention, her costars chimed in that the tongue-twister of a line was said “so many times” while filming and somehow she “nailed it” over and over again.
“I can’t give any context for this, so all I’m going to say is 61 tampons,” Policano shared with a laugh as Kinney jumped in and added that the second half of that line is her favorite moment from Season 1. “All bonded together to create one rat king.”
“One tampon rat king,” Minetree laughed.
You’re just going to have to watch Elle for the context on that one.
Elle Season 1 is now available on Prime Video.