Producer Marc Platt was fascinated by the character of Elle Woods when she was given an unpublished manuscript of a novel. [8] “What I liked about this story is that it`s hilarious, sexy and challenging,” Platt says. “The world looks at Her and sees someone who is blonde and handsome, but no more. She, on the other hand, does not judge herself or anyone else. She thinks the world is great, she`s great, everyone is great and nothing can change that. She is truly an irrepressible modern heroine. [8] “All people see when they look at me are blonde hair and big breasts. Elle Woods Entertainment Weekly put Elle Woods on its “best-of” list at the end of the decade, saying, “She`s blonde, bubbly and wears a tiny Chihuahua. But despite the inevitable comparisons with Paris Hilton, Reese Witherspoon`s Dynamo Legally Blonde has managed to be taken seriously. Case closed! [8] Legally Blonde`s broad outlines grew out of Brown`s experiences as a blonde who went to Stanford Law School while obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently bumping into the personalities of her peers. In 2000, Brown met producer Marc Platt, who helped her develop her manuscript into a novel. Platt enlisted the help of screenwriters McCullah Lutz and Smith to adapt the book into a film. The project caught the attention of director Luketic, an Australian newcomer who came to Hollywood when his first eccentric short titsiana Booberini was a success.
“I had been reading scripts for two years and couldn`t find anything to put my personal stamp on until Legally Blonde appeared,” Luketic said. Witherspoon wore 40 different hairstyles in the film. [22] “Oh my God, it became known as `The Hair That Eat Hollywood,`” Luketiker said. “It was all about the hair. I have this obsession with flyaways. It would annoy Reese a bit because I always had hairdressers on my face. But really most of the time, the research and testing on set was aimed at getting the right color, because “blonde” is subject to interpretation, I thought. [12] Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Alicia Silverstone, Katherine Heigl, Christina Applegate, Milla Jovovich and Jennifer Love Hewitt were all considered for the lead roles,[12] but Luketic stated that he “knew on page five of the script that [he] wanted Reese to play Her.” [10] “I wanted someone with gravity and brain,” he explained. “There had to be more to the face, and Reese just fit into the bill.” [12] Witherspoon was the first person to read the script, and no other actresses were sent; Casting director Joseph Middleton had also previously worked with Witherspoon on The Man in the Moon and A Far Off Place, so he strongly believed in her for the role when Platt mentioned Witherspoon`s name. Applegate turned down the role and Platt suggested casting Britney Spears at one point, but McCullah convinced him not to cast Spears after her Saturday Night Live performance. [13] Despite Luketic`s enthusiasm for casting Witherspoon as the lead actor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was not convinced. [14] Witherspoon`s appearance as Tracy Flick in Election put her in danger of being typed by studio executives. [14] “They thought I was a shrew,” Witherspoon told The Hollywood Reporter.
Witherspoon had been sidelined for several other post-election roles. “My manager finally called and said, `You have to meet with the studio director because he`s not going to approve of you. He thinks you`re really your Election character and you`re disgusting. And then I was told to dress sexy. [14] Witherspoon passed several rounds of auditions for the role and even met leaders in the character with a Southern California accent. “I remember a room full of men asking me questions about how to be a coed and be in a sorority,” Witherspoon recalls. “Even though I had dropped out of college four years earlier and had never been to nurses.” [14] Luketic recalls that he met with her to discuss how she would approach the role. “We met at a hotel on Sunset Boulevard and discussed the film. We were both concerned about certain aspects, such as how the public may feel sorry for a rich girl behind the wheel of a Porsche; and she had to dress in a very special way that was not distracting or disgusting. And every decision came from a certain innocence [of character]. Legally Blonde is a 2001 American drama film directed by Robert Luketic. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber and Jennifer Coolidge.
The story follows Elle Woods (Witherspoon), a sister who tries to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Davis) by earning a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School, overcoming stereotypes against blondes, and triumphing as a successful lawyer. Elle Woods is one of those characters that should be a cliché – she`s girly, loves Rosa more than healthy, and carries a cute little dog named Bruiser everywhere she goes, to the Paris Hilton. She was designed to take on the stereotypical stupid blonde, but at the beginning of the film, we don`t see much more of her than her “female” interests in fashion and style and her obsession with her ex-boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (played by Matthew Davis). However, she told Entertainment Tonight in 2015 that she turned down the role because she wasn`t sure she wanted to play another stereotypical blonde character like her role in Fox`s “Married with Kids.” The film first ended at the courthouse shortly after Woods won the case, with Elle on the steps of the courthouse sharing a victory kiss with Emmett, and then a year into the future for her and a now blonde Vivian who created her own blonde legal defense club at law school. After the test audience revealed that they didn`t like this ending, McCullah Lutz and Smith consulted luketic, Platt, and other members of the production team while they were still in the movie lobby, and they all agreed that a new conclusion was needed. “It was just a weak ending,” explained screenwriter McCullah Lutz. “The kiss didn`t feel good to me because it`s not a rom-com – it wasn`t about their relationship. So the test audience said, “We want to see what happens – we want her to pass.” That`s why we rewrote for the diploma. [31] Ubach and Jessica Cauffiel claim that the original ending also included Elle and Vivian, who drank margaritas in Hawaii, with the implication that they were either now best friends or romantically involved, although Smith and McCullah never wrote such an ending. Other proposed endings for the film were a musical number in which Elle, the judge, the jury and everyone in the courthouse burst into song and dance.
[13] Amanda Brown published Legally Blonde in 2001, drawing on her real-life experiences as a blonde who attended Stanford Law School while obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently bumping into the personalities of her peers. [6] “You break up with me because I am too. Elle Wood`s Blonde first charmed audiences with her sparkling story of an inconsolable blonde who became a brilliant Harvard law student when it hit theaters on July 13, 2001. Hosted by the incomparable Reese Witherspoon, Elle Woods was immediately charming: a sparkling SoCal optimist with an eternally pink wardrobe and unwavering faith in equally charming people. Jennifer Coolidge was cast as Paulette, Elle`s girlfriend, a role that was ready for after some rumors Coolidge, Courtney Love and Kathy Najimy heard. For the role of Warner`s new girlfriend, Vivian, Smith suggested choosing Chloë Sevigny for the role, but such a proposal didn`t work, so Selma Blair was chosen instead; Blair and Witherspoon had previously been together in Cruel Intentions, so their friendship was an anchor between their characters. Ali Larter was originally supposed to play one of Elle`s sisters, but when she read the script, she fell in love with the character of Brooke Taylor Windham, the fitness officer on trial for murder. Finally, he told Witherspoon, who was married to Ryan Phillippe at the time, about his crush.[13] “Uh, I`m sorry, I just hallucinated.” – Elle Woods Luketic explained that when the project first gave the green light, the studio didn`t know the film would be structured as an increasingly enjoyable film for women.
[12] “Initially, they thought it would be a lot more T-shirts and wet breasts than it turned out,” Luketic said. [12] In fact, Legally Blonde`s first script was and slippery in the same way as American Pie.
