Amanda Brown published Legally Blonde in 2001 and was based on her real-life experiences as a blonde who attended Stanford Law School while she was obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently colliding with the personalities of her peers. [6] Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Alicia Silverstone, Katherine Heigl, Christina Applegate, Milla Jovovich and Jennifer Love Hewitt were all considered for the lead role,[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 brains,“ he said. „It had to be more behind the face, and Reese fit in perfectly.“ Witherspoon was the first person to read the script, and it was not sent to other actresses.[12] Casting director Joseph Middleton had also previously worked with Witherspoon in 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, but McCullah convinced him not to cast Britney Spears after her appearance on Saturday Night Live. Despite Luketic`s enthusiasm for Witherspoon as a lead actor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was not convinced.[13] [14] Witherspoon`s performance 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 ended up calling me and saying, `You have to meet with the studio head because he`s not going to approve you. He thinks you`re really your Election character and you`re disgusting. And then I was told to dress sexy.
Witherspoon went through several rounds of auditions for the role and even met executives with Southern California accents.[14] „I remember a room full of men asking me if I was mixed and if I was a sorority,“ Witherspoon recalls. „Even though I had dropped out of university four years earlier and had never been to the nurses.“ [14] Luketic recalls meeting 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 can the public feel sorry for a rich girl driving a Porsche; And she had to dress in a very special way that wasn`t distracting or off-putting. And every decision came from a certain innocence [of character]. [10] Witherspoon wore 40 different hairstyles in the film. [22] „Oh my God, it became known as `The hair that ate Hollywood,`“ Luketic said. It was all about hair. I have this obsession with flyaways. It annoyed Reese a bit because I always had hairdressers on my face. But most of the time, the research and testing on set went in the right color, because `blonde` is open to interpretation, I thought. Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four, saying that the film was „impossible to refuse“ and that „Witherspoon effortlessly animated this material with sunshine and sharp wit.“[12] [37] Todd McCarthy of Variety said Witherspoon gave a „wonderful and winning“ performance.
„Witherspoon shines stars from every pore, not to mention her hair, and is once again proving to be an actress worthy of comparison to the greats of the golden age like Carole Lombard and Ginger Rogers.“ Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune also praised Witherspoon`s performance, saying that his „comic timing is perfect, his personality irresistible. But it`s his wit and immersion in the role that really permeates the whole film and makes it work. He added that Witherspoon „pours so much humor and spice into Elle that she lifts up the whole film.“ [39] B. Ruby Rich of The Nation called it „the best adolescent girls` empowerment film to come in ages.“ [40] CNN`s Paul Clinton praised the film as „a brazen satire that preserves a message: believe in yourself and follow your dreams.“ [41] Producer Marc Platt was fascinated by the character of Elle Woods when he received a manuscript of an unpublished novel. [8] „What I liked about this story is that it`s hilarious, sexy and challenging at the same time,“ says Platt. „The world looks at Her and sees someone who is blond 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 truly is an irrepressible modern heroine. [8] The cast and crew also did a lot of research, with McCullah and Smith attending Stanford Law School for a week during orientation time; A scene of a group of new students going around in circles was inspired by law students listening to the screenwriters during their visit. They also sat for the criminal and constitutional law categories; McCullah was particularly bored during the sophomore, although she found the first one interesting, but it inspired her to write a few scenes during that course. [13] The outline of Legally Blonde emerged from Brown`s experiences as a blonde who went to Stanford Law School while obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently colliding with the personalities of her peers. In 2000, Brown met producer Marc Platt, who helped her develop her manuscript into a novel.
Platt hired 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 after the success of his first offbeat short film Titsiana Booberini. „I had been reading scripts for two years and couldn`t find anything to put my own personal imprint until Legally Blonde came along,“ Luketic said. 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 Children.“ On the surface, blonde Beverly Hills-Elle Woods proves she can get away with blue blood in law school after being abandoned by her arrogant boyfriend. 5. And indeed, we were about to see another well-known blonde wearing last season`s Prada shoes. The script found its way to Christina Applegate just as she was wrapping up her decades-long career as a bride. with Kelly Bundy of Children, „I was afraid to repeat myself,“ she told ETonline in 2015 when she turned down the role.
„What a stupid gesture it was, wasn`t it?“ Entertainment Weekly put Elle Woods on its end-of-decade best-of list, saying, „She`s blonde, bubbly and wears a little Chihuahua. But despite the inevitable comparisons between Paris Hilton, Reese Witherspoon`s Legally Blonde Dynamo managed to be taken seriously. Case closed! » [8] 18. The ending of the film was fundamentally revised in post-production. Originally, McCullah and Smith shared with the New York Times, the film ended with Elle winning in court, she and Emmett sealed their romance with a kiss on the steps of the courtroom. She and Vivian were good friends, and Vivian is blonde now. They had founded the Blond Legal Defense Club and distributed leaflets on the quad. That was the end of Smith`s manuscript, McCullah noted, but then the test audience made a strong judgment.
„We showed the film two or three times, and each time people didn`t want to end it with a kiss,“ she said. „They thought it wasn`t a story about [Her] having a boyfriend, which was really cool for people to say that.“ 19. Nevertheless, compiling Elle`s inspiring closing speech required a bit of ingenuity.