'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series 'Elle' Nabs Lexi Minetree With June Diane Raphael As Mom
What, like casting’s hard? Amazon MGM Studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine have cast their first two leads for Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel series that continues the franchise that began with two Witherspoon-starring films as underestimated lawyer Elle Woods. Lexi Minetree will play Woods here, while June Diane Raphael will play her mother.
Minetree was competing among dozens of actresses, with the final considerations being between her and and Mayfair Witches actress Madison Wolfe. Witherspoon broke the casting news through her socials on February 13. “Allow me to introduce you to the new Elle Woods! After watching so many incredible auditions for the new Elle prequel series on PrimeVideo, we finally found our Elle. And today, I got to break the news myself! Meet leximinetree”. Elle follows high school-era Woods, exploring the life experiences that turned her into how we already know her. Minetree has, in addition to various short films, appeared in The Murdaugh Murders, the Lifetime TV movie My Amish Double Life, and everyone’s favorite early credit, Law & Order: SVU. Creator Laura Kittrell, whose work includes High School and Insecure, is co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Caroline Dries. Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Lauren Kisilevsky, and Marc Platt also serve as executive producers.
Amazon Mines 'Legally Blonde', 'RoboCop' For New TV Series
Back in April 2023, it was reported that Amazon was ready to scour the MGM library for franchises to resuscitate. While at first it seemed that The Pink Panther was out to an early lead with Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy director Jeff Fowler attached and Eddie Murphy in negotiation to star, the last several months have seen a clear new leader emerge with
How did Minetree go public with it? She posted to her own Instagram “ME!!!! yessss:) Ok ok ok, my brain is going nuts over here I don’t even know where to BEGIN. Probably with the thank you’s…ya that’s a good place to start normally, nice thinking Lexi! Thank you to my family, friends, and reps who believe in me and my silly lil dreams. Thank you to Amazon MGM Studios, Hello Sunshine, and everyone involved with this project for trusting me with this iconic role. Thank you to David and Matt for running such a kind and supportive casting room. Thank you jasontmoore for directing me so well they decided to cast me, HA! I am so soooo insanely happy to continue working alongside you! And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to reesewitherspoon for handing me down Elle Woods. I already love her so so much, I promise she’s in good hands. P.S. thank you for showing me how amazing I am going to look in the future, soooo looking forward to that:) Oh and lastly, thank you to the hairdresser who made me blonde in May when I had a random whim to change my hair (as I often do once a year)…. I owe you big time!! Don’t worry Amazon, I won’t be changing from blonde ANYTIME soon!”
Meanwhile, Raphael will play Elle’s mom and role model, Eva. A role small enough to be left off of Wikipedia’s cast list in the original film but originated by Tane McClure, she is polished, pragmatic and thrives on keeping things picture-perfect, so much that she is ultimately among those trying to dissuade Elle’s law school aspirations by the time of that first film. Best known for her series regular role on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie and voicing Devin LaSeven on Big Mouth there, Raphael has been recurring on Abbott Elementary and Apple TV+’s The Morning Show, which Witherspoon stars in and executive produces. She’s also lately been seen in Peacock’s Based on a True Story. In film, Raphael’s credits include The Disaaster Artist, Blockers, and the 2022 Cheaper By the Dozen and will star in Zach Cregger’s horror thriller Weapons with Josh Brolin and Julia Garner.
When her casting was reported Tuesday, Raphael confirmed it by posting to her own Instagram a screenshot of Deadline’s coverage and captioned it “Bending and snapping with excitement over here!!!!”
Amazon MGM’s 'Masters Of The Universe' Gets Sasheer Zamata And Ram-Man
The live-action Masters of the Universe at Amazon MGM Studios may already have its Sorceress (and her successor daughter), but now they’ve found a witch. Or someone who’s played one. The film, which recently began production has now added another three characters: Jon Xue Zhang as RamMan and two originals:
