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Actress Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde”: “Godmother of the hyper-feminine empowered girly-girl”
Photo: mptv / ddp images
The influence of “Legally Blonde” cannot be underestimated. In 2017, US late-night host Jimmy Fallon even tried to prove that then-President Donald Trump had copied a speech to university graduates from the main character of the Hollywood comedy.
But the importance of the 2001 film must also be seriously emphasized. Reese Witherspoon plays Elle Woods, a blonde, pink-wearing woman who is dumped by her boyfriend, wants to emulate him and also goes to Harvard to study law. »She is initially underestimated at university. But the nice thing is: Woods stays true to her style and shows everyone how smart she is," says author Verena Bogner, summing up what convinced her about the film: "She succeeds without adapting to the male world, without being tougher become."
Many of the discussions about the “Barbie” film and the so-called “hyperfeminity” of Shirin David or Kylie Jenner anticipated “Legally Blonde,” as the comedy is originally called, by a good 20 years. In it, Reese Witherspoon was “something like the godmother of the hyper-feminine, empowered girly-girl.”
And outside of her role, Reese Witherspoon has developed into something of a girl boss over the years. With her role as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line” she finally became one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. In 2021, she was considered the richest actress in the world with an estimated fortune of $400 million.
She was already involved as an executive producer in the sequel to “Legally Blonde” in 2003. As a result, she was involved in the production of cinema successes such as “The Big Trip – Wild”, “Gone Girl” and “The Song of the Crayfish”. Witherspoon has been particularly successful in series, with “Big Little Lies”, “The Morning Show” and “Daisy Jones & The Six”.
In this respect, a circle has now been closed with the news that Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine is now developing a TV series based on "Legally Blonde", which will run on Amazon Prime Video. The trade publication “Variety” confirmed a report from “Deadline”. In addition to Witherspoon, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are also involved as executive producers. The duo created two other classic TV series about young people - "OC California" (2003-2007) and "Gossip Girl" (2007-2012).
Nothing is yet known about the plot of the "Legally Blonde" spinoff series - nor whether Reese Witherspoon will reprise her role as Elle Woods. Or whether Jennifer Coolidge could even make a guest appearance as a manicurist.
Feb