Behind the Scenes of Legally Blonde

by Kevin Gardner

Legally Blonde is a movie that is considered an absolute icon, and virtually everyone who has been around for the past 21 years has heard of it. However, there are some things that you may not know about the movie that may surprise you more than Elle learning that Warner wanted to break the engagement. Keep reading for some behind-the-scenes action from Legally Blonde.

Reese Witherspoon Almost Wasn't Elle

There were a lot of actresses who were asked to play Elle Woods, the main character who spreads positivity on pink, scented paper. A few of the choices included Christina Applegate, Charlize Theron and Katherine Heigl. Though it may seem impossible to think of anyone but Reese in the role, she was far from the first choice. What matters is that she was the right one. The role was made for her, and it definitely showed on screen.

Reese Kept All of Elle's Outfits

Witherspoon did not want to see any of Elle's 60 outfits sold on the internet or elsewhere, so she made sure that keeping all of the character's outfits was a part of her contract. The outfits were a central focus on an episode of The Home Edit, where Reese had a special closet room made for outfits that she had accumulated over the course of her acting career.

Who Made the Breakup Dress?

Everyone remembers seeing Elle and Warner in a restaurant at the beginning of the movie, on the edges of their seats waiting for Warner to propose. Audiences were as shocked as Elle when he broke up with her. She had spent all day choosing the perfect dress only to have him drop a bombshell. Said dress was actually made by Witherspoon's best friend, Molly. Not only was Elle's dress fabulous, but it was made by a dear friend, which makes it even more special.

Long Live Charmin

In Elle's admissions video to Harvard, she is seen discussing the change of toilet paper. There are things that are so ridiculous that they have to have a nugget of truth, and that is indeed the case. One of the screenwriters for the movie had that experience in college, and the sorority sisters were even told that there were rewards involved for anyone who had the bravery to steal toilet paper rolls from the building. It would be interesting to know how many rolls were stolen, who stole them and whether the issue ever got resolved.

Reese Had to Go Through the Wringer

Elle Woods is known as a bubbly, bright genius who sees all the good in the world and is determined to remain mostly positive no matter what challenge comes her way. She did not even have to worry about student loans, as she was established as an entrepreneur in college and came from a wealthy family that just wanted the best for her.

However, Reese Witherspoon had to face constant challenges on set, and was understandably not as bubbly about it. She had to dress provocatively for the role because someone in casting was convinced that she was her character from the movie Election. She had a baby right before filming, which led to a number of scheduling hoops to jump through in addition to all of the recovering from childbirth and the aftermath while she was supposed to play this character with constant high energy. She also had to deal with confessions from Matthew Davis, who played Warner, as well as having to quickly film the last scene of the movie from a college in London, where she was already working on another movie. It seemed that both Witherspoon and her character were not going to get a break, but thankfully, both of them kept fighting all of the obstacles in their way.

There was a lot of work and insane true stories to get Legally Blonde to the screen. Keep this article in mind the next time you watch Legally Blonde and you might find yourself seeing the movie from a whole new perspective.