Elle
Genre Comedy
Based on
Legally Blonde
by Amanda Brown
Developed by Laura Kittrell
Showrunners
  • Laura Kittrell
  • Caroline Dries
Starring
  • Lexi Minetree
  • June Diane Raphael
  • Tom Everett Scott
  • Jacob Moskovitz
  • Gabrielle Policano
  • Chandler Kinney
  • Zac Looker
  • Amy Pietz
Music by Tom Howe
Opening theme
"Only Happy When It Rains"
by Garbage
Country of origin
United States
Original language
English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 8
Production
Executive producers
  • Marc Platt
  • Amanda Brown
  • Brad Van Arragon
  • Jason Moore
  • Caroline Dries
  • Laura Kittrell
  • Lauren Neustadter
  • Reese Witherspoon
Producers
  • Bryan J. Raber
  • Asmita Paranjape
Cinematography
  • Tobias Datum
  • Shasta Spahn
Editors
  • Melissa McCoy
  • Chris A. Peterson
  • Nena Erb
  • Spencer Koobatian
Running time 43–56 minutes
Production companies
  • Caroline Dries Entertainment
  • Meridian & Bigbee Productions
  • Reunion Pacific Entertainment
  • Hello Sunshine
  • Amazon MGM Studios
Original release
Network Amazon Prime Video
Release July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01) –
present

Elle (also marketed as Elle: From the World of Legally Blonde) is an American comedy television series developed by Laura Kittrell, serving as a prequel to the Legally Blonde franchise. The series takes place six years before the events of the first film and it explores the high school years of teenage Elle Woods (originally portrayed by Reese Witherspoon), set to be portrayed by newcomer Lexi Minetree.

The series is helmed by showrunner Kittrell and is executive producing alongside Witherspoon and producer Marc Platt. Production began in April 2025. It premiered on July 1, 2026. In January 2026, the series was renewed for a second season.

Premise

A prequel to Legally Blonde, the series explores Elle Woods’ teenage years in the 1990s as a high school student in Seattle,[1] long before she became the ambitious Harvard law student in the films.[2]

Cast

Main

  • Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods
  • June Diane Raphael as Eva Woods, Elle's mother
  • Tom Everett Scott as Wyatt Woods, Elle's father
  • Jacob Moskovitz as Miles
  • Gabrielle Policano as Liz, an out and proud lesbian at Rainer West High School whom Elle befriends
  • Chandler Kinney as Kimberly, a mean girl at Rainer West High School
  • Zac Looker as Dustin
  • Amy Pietz as Donna, the secretary at Rainer West High School in Seattle that Elle goes to and Liz's mother

Recurring

  • Matt Oberg as Principal Anderson, the principal of Rainer West High School
  • Jessica Belkin as Madison, Elle's best friend in Los Angeles
  • Kayla Maisonet as Tiffany
  • Logan Shroyer as Hot Josh
  • Lisa Yamada as Amber
  • Chloe Wepper as Ms. Burke, Elle's chemistry teacher at Rainer West High School
  • David Burtka as Chad
  • Danielle Chand as Shannon, Kimberly's best friend and Miles' girlfriend
  • James Van Der Beek as Dean Wilson, the current superintendent and Medina's new mayoral candidate
  • Brad Harder as Charlie

Episodes

No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date
1 "Pilot" Jason Moore Laura Kittrell July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
2 "No Silly, I Go Here" Jason Moore Eli Wilson Pelton July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
3 "You're Not The Girl I Thought You Were" Sammi Cohen Asmita Paranjape July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
4 "I'm Not Afraid Of A Challenge" Sammi Cohen Julia Brownell July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
5 "Trust Me, I Can Handle Anything" Pete Chatmon Jen Regan July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
6 "Whoever Said Orange Is The New Pink Was Seriously Disturbed" Pete Chatmon Chad Charlie July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
7 "You Picked The Wrong Girl" Stacie Passon Caroline Dries July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)
8 "What, Like It's Hard" Stacie Passon Laura Kittrell July 1, 2026 (2026-07-01)

Production

Development

As a planned Legally Blonde 3 languished in development hell, in April 2023, it was announced that after acquiring MGM, Amazon had plans to expand the Legally Blonde franchise with a television series in development.[3]

On May 14, 2024, Amazon Prime Video announced a new upcoming prequel series, Elle with Laura Kittrell developing the series.[4][5][6] In a statement, Reese Witherspoon, who hosted the announcement, said that viewers "will get to know how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity, in ways that only our beloved Elle could do."[4] The series is co-showrun and executive produced by Kittrell and Caroline Dries. Jason Moore directed the first two episodes of season one and serves as an executive producer. Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Lauren Kisilevsky, Marc Platt and Amanda Brown, the author of Legally Blonde novel, also serve as executive producers.[7][8]

In January 2025, Witherspoon said in an interview that she was inspired to create the spinoff series after watching Netflix's Wednesday series starring Jenna Ortega. "I saw that Wednesday Addams show and I was like, 'Oh, she was in high school.' I loved it. I watched every episode. I thought it was amazing," Witherspoon said. "And I was like, 'We should do Elle Woods in high school because I wanted to see who she was before college, before law school. And I started having all these ideas and these amazing writers came up with a great pitch and now Amazon is making the show and it's called Elle."[8] In January 2026, the series was renewed for a second season.[7]

Casting

In February 2025, newcomer Lexi Minetree was cast as Elle Woods, a role originally portrayed by Witherspoon in the original films.[9]

In March, June Diane Raphael and Tom Everett Scott were cast as Elle's parents, Eva and Wyatt. In that same month Chandler Kinney, Gabrielle Policano and Jacob Moskovitz joined the cast as Kimberly, Liz, and Miles.[10][11][12] In April, Zac Looker, Jessica Belkin, Logan Shroyer, and Amy Pietz joined the cast as Dustin, Madison, Josh, and Donna.[13][14] In May, Lisa Yamada, Chloe Wepper, David Burtka, Brad Harder, Kayla Maisonet, and James Van Der Beek, in what would be his final role before his death, joined the cast in key recurring roles.[15][16] In February 2026, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan joined the cast for the second season as Sam.[17]

Filming

Principal photography began on April 2, 2025, in Vancouver, and concluded on July 22, 2025.[18][19]

Release

Elle premiered on July 1, 2026.[7]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes holds a 54% approval rating based on 41 critic reviews, with an average of rated reviews of 5.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Lexi Minetree brings sparkle and excellent mimicry to rehashed proceedings in Elle, a mildly entertaining case study adhering to the confusing laws of prequel nostalgia."[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 52 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[21]

References

  1. ^ Lexi Herda (May 6, 2026). "'Legally Blonde' prequel on Prime Video takes place in Seattle". mynorthwest.com. KIRO-TV.
  2. ^ Delgado, Sara (May 16, 2024). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Casts Lexi Minetree as Young Elle Woods". Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie; White, Peter (April 14, 2023). "'Robocop,' 'Stargate', 'Legally Blonde' & 'Barbershop' Among Titles In Works For Film & TV As Amazon Looks To Supercharge MGM IP". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "'Legally Blonde' is Getting a Prequel Series, 'Elle,' And Here's Everything You Need to Know About It". Cosmopolitan. May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Morrow, Brendan. "Elle Woods goes to high school in Reese Witherspoon-produced 'Legally Blonde' prequel". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  6. ^ Yandoli, Krystie Lee (May 14, 2024). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series Set About Elle Woods' High School Years". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Gomez, Dessi (January 21, 2026). "'Elle' Prequel Series Sets Summer Premiere Date; Gets Early Season 2 Renewal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  8. ^ a b Thomas, Carly (January 30, 2025). "Reese Witherspoon Is Currently Watching Audition Tapes for Teen Elle Woods for 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  9. ^ Cordero, Rosy (February 13, 2025). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Casts Lexi Minetree As Elle Woods". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  10. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 11, 2025). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series Casts June Diane Raphael As Elle's Mom". Deadline Hollywood.
  11. ^ Cordero, Rosy (March 24, 2025). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series Casts Tom Everett Scott As Elle's Dad". Deadline Hollywood.
  12. ^ Cordero, Rosy (March 27, 2025). "Chandler Kinney, Gabrielle Policano & Jacob Moskovitz Join 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  13. ^ Cordero, Rosy (April 7, 2025). "Zac Looker, Jessica Belkin & Logan Shroyer Join 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  14. ^ Cordero, Rosy (April 10, 2025). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series 'Elle' Casts Amy Pietz As Series Regular". Deadline Hollywood.
  15. ^ Petski, Denise (May 9, 2025). "'Elle' Adds 5 To Cast Of Prime Video's 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  16. ^ Otterson, Joe (May 15, 2025). "James Van Der Beek Joins 'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series 'Elle'". Variety. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  17. ^ Porter, Rick (February 26, 2026). "'Elle' Adds 'Never Have I Ever' Star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to Season 2 Cast". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  18. ^ Hailu, Selome (April 2, 2025). "'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series First Look: Lexi Minetree Makes Her Elle Woods Debut". Variety. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  19. ^ Gittins, Susan (February 5, 2025). "Reese Witherspoon's Legally Blonde Prequel Elle Filming in Vancouver This Spring". Hollywood North Buzz. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  20. ^ "Elle: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 3, 2026.
  21. ^ "Elle: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved July 1, 2026.