Reese Witherspoon Reveals Why Legally Blonde Fans Will Love Elle

Elle Woods is coming back to our screens very soon. On Sept. 9, while promoting the upcoming fourth season of The Morning Show, Reese Witherspoon told Bustle what she’s most excited for fans to see in the upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle.

Joined by her Morning Show co-star Jennifer Aniston, Witherspoon said she was most excited for fans to meet “incredible young actress” Lexi Minetree, who was cast to play teenage Elle Woods after a nationwide casting search, marking her TV debut as a leading lady. However, nobody was more excited to see Minetree than Aniston.

“We watched her get the job, that was the cutest thing ever,” Aniston gushed, nodding to the Instagram video of Minetree finding out she’d landed the part. “Oh, my God, I had the best time telling her,” Witherspoon replied, to which Aniston quipped, “She died.”

“I went through everybody’s videotapes,” Witherspoon added of the casting process. “So many people auditioned, like 3,000 tapes came in, and she’s special and she just went the extra mile.”

Witherspoon went on to say that Minetree “has the spirit” of the Elle Woods we all know and love. “She’s wonderful. The whole cast is amazing,” she added. “Jason Moore directed it. He did the Pitch Perfect movie and so many other wonderful movies like Tina [Fey] and Amy [Poehler’s Sisters].”

She teased that Elle will feel like “a ’90s throwback,” calling it “charming” and “cute,” without giving any spoilers away. And Aniston seems ready to get nostalgic. “I love it,” she said. “We need that.”

What Is Elle About?

Witherspoon, who brought Elle Woods to life in the 2001 classic Legally Blonde and its 2003 sequel, announced the prequel at Amazon’s Upfronts in May 2024, stating that the new show would follow Elle as she navigated life as a teenager. “Before she became the most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law, she was just a regular ’90s high school girl,” she teased.

A year later, Witherspoon shared a first look aft the series, showing Elle in her signature pink at a classroom desk. “I’m so thrilled to introduce Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods,” she wrote on Instagram. “She is stepping into these pink shoes with so much grace, ambition and charm.”

Speaking to Bustle, Witherspoon said that Elle would be coming out “next summer,” making it an early addition to your 2026 watch list.