Reese Witherspoon officially reveals actress playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde TV series

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Reese Witherspoon has officially confirmed who will be stepping into her shoes as the new Elle Woods.

Legally Blonde is returning to screens with a prequel series, following a younger Elle before her law school days.

Reese, 48, played the iconic character in the 2001 comedy and its 2003 sequel, and now serves as an executive producer on the Prime Video series.

While details had been kept under wraps until now, with many hoping Reese’s lookalike daughter may be taking on the role, she’s revealed actress Lexi Minetree will be playing Elle.

In a video shared to Instagram, Reese was seen giving Lexi feedback after her audition for the role.

She said: ‘I wanted to say your audition tape was amazing, as we talked about, we had to make a really hard decision the other day, and we wanted to tell you in person because you’ve just worked really hard.’

Reese Witherspoon has revealed who will be playing a young Elle Woods (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock) Legally Blonde is returning as a TV series (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock) Lexi Minetree will be playing Elle Woods (Picture: Instagram/reesewitherspoon)

Surprising Lexi, the Big Little Lies actress went on: ‘And we just wanted to tell you that you don’t have to audition any more… because you got the part, you’re Elle Woods.’

Completely stunned, Lexi was overcome with emotion before asking to hug Reese and then ringing her mother to tell her she got the part.

‘I haven’t slept in three nights, I wanted to tell you so bad,’ Reese told her.

At one point, Reese joked with Lexi’s mum – who thought they sounded so similar – that when she saw the audition tape she wondered if they were ‘the same person’.

‘Allow me to introduce you to the new Elle Woods!’ Reese wrote in the caption.

Lexi and Reese shared an emotional clip to announce the news (Picture: Instagram/reesewitherspoon) Fans are so excited! (Picture: Instagram/reesewitherspoon)

‘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!’

Fans rushed to congratulate Lexi and celebrate the news, with @janeklee writing: ‘“ME!!!!l” the most heartwarming reveal of all time. can’t wait to see our new Elle on screens.’

Never Have I Ever actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan said: ‘This is so wholesome I’m sobbing.’

‘She is going to do great as Elle Woods. Her reaction is adorable,’ @rockygirldiva wrote.

@sarahjaneluff added: ‘Aww she is super cute! And seems sweet too.’

Reese began by giving Lexi feedback from her audition tape before the big reveal (Picture: Instagram/reesewitherspoon) They called Lexi’s mother to share the happy news (Picture: Instagram/reesewitherspoon)

Meanwhile, Lexi shared the same video to her Instagram account and wrote: ‘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 @amazonmgmstudios , @hellosunshine and everyone involved with this project for trusting me with this iconic role.’

She added: ‘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!

‘Crazy town over here you guys!!!!’

Lexi was overcome with emotion (Picture: Instagram/reesewitherspoon) Reese played Elle Woods in the 2001 hit and 2003 sequel (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock) The new series will be called Elle and follow the character before law school (Picture: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Amazon)

Reese replied to her in the comments: ‘LEXI ! You are so talented ! I am so excited to share this role of a lifetime with YOU.’

According to IMDb, Lexi has held roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Murdaugh Murders, as well as on stage in Noises Off, No Exit and The Cover of Life, which earned her the best actress award at the Fall One Act competition in Georgia, where she’s from.

Lexi graduated from the University of Southern California with a double major in Theatre and Public Relations, and has also trained in London at the British American Drama Academy.

Her Instagram boasts snaps with friends, travelling and even skydiving, with a recent picture of her dressing in pink sparking comments weeks ago that she’d be the next Elle Woods.

The series will be called Elle and will meet the character before the events of Legally Blonde, which sees the sorority girl gain admittance to Harvard Law School in pursuit of a boyfriend who has broken up with her.

While studying there, Elle discovers she is more than just her looks and proves to have the makings of a highly capable lawyer.

The new series is produced by Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine company, which is now part of Candle Media, and was previously responsible for shows including Daisy Jones And The Six.

Reese previously revealed that filming begins in March, though has yet to reveal if she’ll be making a cameo appearance in the series.

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