What’s an actor to do when they’re trying to land one of the most iconic characters in modern pop culture? For Lexi Minetree, star of Prime Video’s Legally Blonde prequel Elle, the meta approach was the way to go.

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Elle Woods, the headstrong sorority girl turned Harvard Law student played by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 film, charms her way into the Ivy League law school through relentless studying and an out-of-the-box admissions video essay. The character famously filmed herself floating in the pool and living her best Southern California sorority girl life. Minetree couldn’t think of a more fitting way to prove to the Elle casting team that she was the girl for the job than by recreating the scene.

“What’s more Elle Woods than being extra AF and putting a whole on production for this little slate,” the 25-year-old actress tells The Hollywood Reporter on a recent Zoom. She’s promoting season one, released on Wednesday, but at the time of this conversation, she’s filming season two. The second season was picked up by the Amazon streamer earlier in the year.

The series finds Elle as a high school student who suddenly moves away from her posh life in Bel Air and is forced to acclimate to a much more casual — and much less pink — Seattle. Similar to the original film, Elle learns to leave behind some of the preconceived notions that her rich upbringing gave her and embrace authenticity.

“I wrote the script and I filmed it at my house and I edited it,” the actress adds of her audition tape. “I put music over it, a Smash Mouth song. I remember I spent hours on it, and I was so proud of it.”

The effort, of course, was worth it. She beat out a slew of other Elle hopefuls in the open casting to land the part, with Witherspoon, an executive producer on the prequel series, announcing her casting in May 2025 and officially giving her stamp of approval. “She’s been incredibly supportive,” Minetree says of Witherspoon.

The young actress had a steep hill ahead of her. Taking on a character so beloved comes with baggage, but it also creates a challenge for Minetree — how can she make Elle Woods her own? Naturally, she studied Witherspoon’s original portrayal relentlessly. “She watched the film 150 times,” says co-star Jacob Moskovitz, who plays Elle’s love interest, Miles.

But Minetree was determined to find her own way into Elle Woods, while still paying homage to the character Witherspoon created. “[It’s] 25 years later and people are still talking about Elle Woods, quoting Elle Woods, going to law school because of Elle Woods. That’s crazy power for one character to have,” she says.

“Whenever you reboot or use an existing IP, people feel very precious about it. Of course they do,” the actress says. “I hope that Legally Blonde fans are really put at ease knowing that we have Reese on board, and not only is she supportive of it, but she’s instrumental in the creation of it.”

Minetree has gone full Elle Woods in the last few years, as the show has become a huge part of her life. But she does have a major confession. “In my day-to-day life, I feel like pink has started to ease its way out a bit more,” she admits. “I wear it so much more than I ever thought I would. I’m a green gal.”

Below, Minetree speaks with THR about creating her own version of the character, what scene Witherspoon made her watch from the original film and how life has changed since becoming the new Elle Woods.

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How are you feeling about everything?

I’m so excited. It’s crazy because we filmed it last year. We started in February, and now we’re almost done filming season two. It’s been such a long process of making it. It’s crazy to think people will get to see it soon.

It’s rare to get a season two pickup before season one even airs. What was it like already knowing that you guys were jumping right into the next season?

It was a wonderful gift because like you said, it doesn’t happen often. What’s interesting is when you’re filming the first season of something, it feels like it’s yours, the cast and the crew, because no one really knows what it’s about yet or is not invested in it as much. Then people watch it, and then it’s Pandora’s box. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has something to say about it. In season two, we got to do it all again and have it be our little thing. Dare I say, I might even [like] season two more than season one because it feels like in season one you get to introduce the world and the people. In season two, you get to jump headfirst into all of Elle’s shenanigans.

The big question is obviously what it’s been like working with Reese. Has she given you any advice?

Reese was really, really helpful, especially in the beginning with helping create the tone of Elle and reminding me of certain things in the movie. I remember she sent me this message once, and it was a clip of Elle talking to Warner at the end [of Legally Blonde], when he’s trying to get her back and she lets him down. Even after everything that he did to her, she’s still kind. She’s never a bully. She never takes a low road, but she’s firm. I think that was something that she really wanted me to hold with me is Elle’s kindness. How she forgives people because she gives them the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, we don’t know what people are going through. We don’t have to be and shouldn’t be doormats, but we can also have grace with people and grace with ourselves.

How did you find your own version of Elle without falling into doing an imitation of the original?

I went to theater school, and the thing about theater is one play can be done many times by different people. You have the same text, but two people can do it differently. It’s a disservice to try and copy what the other person did because I’m not Reese. She did something incredible, and now the movies are immortalized for people to watch whenever they want to see her performance. If I tried to copy her, it would seem like an imitation. If I didn’t bring my own experiences into it, I feel like it would have an artificial quality to it. I did all this work upfront. I spent hours and hours and hours. I watched the movie an ungodly amount of times, seriously.

Is your life now what you imagined it would be when you took the role? How have things panned out?

It’s been a whirlwind truly. I never thought my life would turn out the way it is now, and I’m so grateful for it. I’m so, so grateful that I get to play this character that I do truly love so much. I love this show so much and work with incredible actors who also care so much about it, producers who care, showrunners who care. There’s so much love poured into this show. I also feel lucky because not as many people get the time to brace themselves potentially [like I did]. Because it is such a beloved IP, we obviously know that some people are going to be tuning in. I’ve been able to do a lot of self-reflection and work on self-love and grounding myself. I have a good group of people around me because when the show comes out, that’s Pandora’s Box. Who knows what’ll happen? Everyone will have opinions and stuff like that. Obviously, I know they’re going to love it.

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