Elle Woods

Elle Woods is the protagonist of Amanda Brown's 2001 novel Legally Blonde and the 2001 film of the same name, as well as a sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde. Woods was also portrayed in the Broadway adaptation of the same name.

Elle Woods
First appearanceLegally Blonde
Created byAmanda Brown
Portrayed byReese Witherspoon
In-universe information
GenderFemale
OccupationLawyer
FamilyMr. Woods (father)
Mrs. Woods (mother)
SpouseEmmett Richmond (Emmett Forrest in musical adaptation)
Significant otherWarner Huntington III (ex-boyfriend)
NationalityAmerican

In pop culture

Elle Woods first appeared as the protagonist of Legally Blonde, a novel by Amanda Brown.[1] Later, Woods was portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the films Legally Blonde (2001) and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003).[2][3] The character was then portrayed in a Broadway theatre adaptation of the first film, Legally Blonde - The Musical. Elle Woods is also the basis of a series of young adult fiction novels featuring the character and written by Natalie Standiford.[4][5] The character is mentioned but not seen in a later direct-to-video sequel, Legally Blondes (2009), which portrays the adventures of her twin British cousins.[6] In 2018 Ariana Grande referenced Elle in several scenes of her "Thank U, Next" music video.[7]

Legally Blonde films

Entertainment Weekly put Elle Woods on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "She's blond, bubbly, and carries a tiny Chihuahua. But despite the inevitable Paris Hilton comparisons, Reese Witherspoon's Legally Blonde dynamo managed to be taken seriously. Case closed!"[8]

Broadway adaptation

Since the start, Woods has been portrayed by eleven different actresses in different stagings of the show: Gabby Cinque, Olivia Mezzerina, Laura Bell Bundy,[9] Bailey Hanks,[10] Becky Gulsvig, Jessica Jung, Nikki Bohne, Luna Park, Jung Eun-ji, Sayaka Kanda, and in the West End by Sheridan Smith OBE (who was later to be replaced by her Legally Blonde co-star Susan McFadden). From July 2011 Carley Stenson took over the role of Elle Woods with Susan McFadden leaving the show.

Background

In the film, Legally Blonde, Elle Woods is a sorority sister living at Delta Nu at the fictional California University Los Angeles (CULA) (UCLA in the musical) where she maintains a 4.0 GPA. Woods' boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, breaks up with her the night she expects him to propose, claiming that he needs "to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn." Warner is bound for Harvard Law School, and Woods becomes determined to gain admittance to the school to win him back. Once at Harvard, Woods learns that Warner has a new fiancée. Woods is able to exonerate a sorority sister accused of murder, and decides she does not need Warner. In the film's conclusion, Woods gives the commencement address to the law school class after proving herself and earning the respect of her peers.[11]

In the sequel to the original film, Elle is in the middle of planning her wedding while in line for a promotion at work. She decides to track down the birth mother of her beloved dog, Bruiser, and discovers that she is being used for animal testing. After getting fired for trying to bring up the testing facility, Elle goes to work on Capitol Hill, seeking to advance animal rights. She begins the film with naïve expectations about the motivations of members of Congress, and although these expectations are dashed, she perseveres and succeeds in the passage of the desired animal rights legislation. At the end of the movie, she marries Emmett in Washington, D.C., and is seen looking at the White House when she is asked where she wants to live.

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References
  1. "Stanford Magazine - Article". alumni.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  2. Harwood, Erika. "Reese Witherspoon Loves Channeling Elle Woods". Vanities. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  3. "Elle Woods (Character)". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  4. "Juvenile Series and Sequels Title: Elle Woods". Mid-Continent Public Library. Archived from the original on 2015-09-08.
  5. "Legally Elle Woods". fictfact.com.
  6. "Reese Witherspoon Once Again Says She's Open to Making a 'Legally Blonde 3'". Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  7. Levine, Daniel S. (December 2, 2018). "Reese Witherspoon Reacts to Ariana Grande's Elle Woods Impression in 'Thank U, Next'". popculture.com.
  8. EW Staff (December 4, 2009). "100 greatest movies, TV shows, and more". Entertainment Weekly. Vol. (1079/1080). pp. 74–84.
  9. Brantley, Ben (2007-04-30). "Legally Blonde - Review - Theater". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  10. "Case Closed: Legally Blonde Ends Broadway Run Oct. 19 | Playbill". Playbill. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  11. Scott, A. O. (13 July 2001). "FILM REVIEW; A Rich Ditz Has Both Brains and the Last Laugh". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
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