Witherspoon explored the character by studying the girl sisters on her campus and associated hot spots. She went to dinner with them and joked that she was conducting an «anthropological study.» [16] «I could have gotten into it and really been hesitant and played what I thought was that character, and I would have missed a whole other side of her,» Witherspoon added. [17] «But going to Beverly Hills, hanging out at Neiman Marcus, eating in his coffee shop and seeing these women walking and talking, I got into the reality of the character. I`ve seen how polite these women are, and I`ve seen how much they value their female friendships and how important it is to support each other. She played Amelia in the short-lived but well-received Fox television series «Pitch» in 2016.[17] Producer Marc Platt was fascinated by the character of Elle Woods when he received a manuscript of an unpublished novel.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] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 36%, based on 159 critics, with an average rating of 4.9/10.
The site`s critical consensus is: «This blonde joke is less funny the second time.» [5] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 47, based on 39 critics, indicating «mixed or average reviews». [6] Viewers surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a «B» score on an A+ to F scale.[7] The film was ranked number 21 in Entertainment Weekly`s «Top 25 Worst Sequels Ever Made» (2006). [8] Legally Blonde is a 2001 American drama film directed by Robert Luketic. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber and Jennifer Coolidge. The story follows Elle Woods (Witherspoon), a sister who tries to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Davis) by earning a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, overcoming stereotypes against blondes, and triumphing as a successful lawyer. The film originally ended at the courthouse, just after Woods won the case, with Elle on the steps of the courthouse sharing a victory kiss with Emmett, then cutting a year into the future to see her with a now-blonde Vivian form their own blonde legal defense club at law school. After the test audience revealed that they didn`t like the ending, McCullah Lutz and Smith consulted Luketic, Platt and other members of the production team while they were still in the lobby of the theater, and they agreed that a new conclusion was needed. «It was just a weak ending,» said screenwriter McCullah Lutz. «The kiss didn`t feel right to me because it`s not a romantic comedy – it wasn`t about their relationship. So the test viewers said, «We want to see what happens – we want her to succeed. That`s why we rewrote for graduation. Ubach and Jessica Cauffiel claim that the original ending also included Elle and Vivian drinking margaritas in Hawaii, implying that they were either best friends now or in love, although Smith and McCullah never wrote such an ending.[31] Other suggested endings for the film included a musical number in which She, the judge, the jury and everyone in the courthouse sang and danced.
[13] 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. Shortly after the debut of «Legally Blonde,» Larter played Niki Sanders in NBC`s «Heroes» for four years.[12] The outline of Legally Blonde grew out of 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. Coolidge remains a household name and often plays humorous roles — she`s played more than 50 characters since «Legally Blonde» hit theaters. He played paternal vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman in the series and also appeared as Alaric in the spin-offs «The Originals» and «Legacies». Taylor played Evelyn Harper in the CBS sitcom «Two and a Half Men» for more than a decade.