1 of 5 | Reese Witherspoon stars in “Legally Blonde,” returning to theaters Sunday via Fathom Entertainment. Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Screenwriters Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah said they still see the influence of the film Legally Blonde, returning to theaters in 4K Sunday and Wednesday via Fathom Entertainment.
The duo adapted Amanda Brown’s book about a sorority sister who got into Harvard Law School. Reese Witherspoon played Elle Woods in the movie and its sequel.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, McCullah said she still recognizes Legally Blonde quotes on graduating law students’ caps and gowns.
“People put things on their hats like ‘What, like it’s hard’ and quotes from the movie,” McCullah said.
Elle sets her sights on Harvard after her boyfriend, Warner (Matthew Davis), breaks up with her before attending himself. Law school empowers Elle to forge her own legal career.
“There was this idea that you can be really hyper-feminine and hyper-ambitious,” Smith said. “You can love fashion as much as you love studying the law or finding success in your career, etc.”
Released in 2001, Legally Blonde was the second produced screenplay by Smith and McCullah after 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You. They will be attending a Q&A for the Wednesday show at the Lumiere Cinema in Beverly Hills, Calif. and looked back on the film’s impact ahead of the 25th anniversary re-release.
Visiting Stanford Law School for ‘Legally Blonde’ research
Smith and McCullah worked on the screenplay adaptation before Brown’s book was published and only met the author at the film’s wrap party. They remain friends today, McCullah said.
The screenwriters visited Stanford Law School, Brown’s alma mater, for additional research. Spending one week during orientation inspired some scenes in the film.
“The scene where she goes around in a circle where everyone introduces themselves with these ridiculous qualifications, that was pulled from us lightly dropping in on some conversation that we probably weren’t qualified to be part of,” Smith said.
McCullah said they also procured textbooks to incorporate more legalese into the film.
“We’d just open a page, we’d be like, ‘Oh, mens rea, let’s throw that in,'” McCullah said.
While interning for Prof. Callahan (Victor Garber), Elle helps try the case of Brooke Taylor (Ali Larter), accused of murdering her husband. Brooke ends up hiring Elle to represent her directly.
The actual Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03 allows a law student to do so under the circumstances provided in the film.
“Marc Platt, our producer, said everything we said legally had to be real,” McCullah said.
Elle’s cross-examination hinges on Brooke’s stepdaughter (Linda Cardellini) claiming to be in the shower after having a perm. The screenwriters said the perm defense was in the book, but they enhanced the trial itself.
“We changed the details to make it a murder trial,” McCullah said.
Even before legalese, Elle uses big words like “amenable” in her conversations with Warner. Smith and McCullah said the character reflects the way they themselves talk.
“I felt like that was our own natural vocabulary as writers to make the gals multi-syllabic and intelligent,” Smith said.
The ‘bend and snap’ and new endings
One completely original element of the film was Elle’s flirtation lessons to the staff of a beauty salon. Elle befriends manicurist Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge), who is pining for a handsome delivery man.
Elle teaches Paulette the “bend and snap,” where she picks something up off the ground and snaps back up to emphasize her chest.
“We were having drinks and then I think I just jumped up and went like, ‘Ooh, like the bend and snap?’ and did a ridiculous maneuver that made Karen laugh,” Smith said. “Then we trotted it on into Marc Platt’s office and he was also tickled by how silly we were.”
Legally Blonde concludes with a flash-forward to Elle’s graduation in 2004 and on-screen epilogues revealing the fate of each character, like the ones in Animal House. McCullah and Smith remembered brainstormin those with producers and director Robert Luketic in the lobby of a movie theater holding a test screening.
The original endings to Legally Blonde were never released on various home video editions. Smith and McCullah remembered two prior endings before the graduation ending.
“In the original scripted ending, she comes out of the trial and then has private moments on the steps with like every single person she’s practically ever met in her whole life which was a little much,” Smith said.
Smith added that one ending included a kiss between Elle and Callahan’s associate, Emmett (Luke Wilson). They learned audiences cared more about Elle’s career than her love life.
“They just wanted to know what happened to her in her life journey, her work journey, her ambitions,” Smith said. “While they loved that romance, it didn’t feel like the appropriate button for the whole story.”
McCullah said another ending showed Elle starting a legal defense fund on campus, but that still did not satisfy audiences.
“Six months later, it was her handing out flyers on the quad,” McCullah said. “They wanted to see her graduate and know that she was going on to great things.”
The sequel, the prequel and legacy of ‘Legally Blonde’
Legally Blonde was such a surprise hit in 2001 that MGM fast-tracked a sequel. Smith and McCullah were unavailable for 2003’s Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde which saw Elle visit Congress in Washington, D.C.
“We were writing Ella Enchanted,” Smith said. “We were under contract for a different studio.”
Still, Smith said the production invited them to the set. During post-production, they still wrote new lines to be dubbed in.
“We were still treated as part of the family, which is lovely,” Smith said.
They are not involved in Prime Video’s upcoming Elle series. They are surprised the show finds young Elle Woods in high school in Seattle, Wash., since she was a California girl in the movie and book.
McCullah and Smith said they are eager to see another ’90s high school comedy in Seattle, since that is where they set 10 Things I Hate About You.
“It’s kind of like they’re doing a mashup of our first two movies,” McCullah said. “I’m very curious about it.”
Smith added, “They might not know that, but in our minds…”
McCullah and Smith are still a writing duo. They completed a script for a third Legally Blonde that has not been made. Nor has a subsequent script by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor.
With Witherspoon still interested in reprising the role, Smith still hopes a third movie will happen.
“Always, always hoping, always hoping,” Smith said. “I think that would be amazing.”
Smith and McCullah are finishing a script that has not been announced yet.
“We think it will please the fans of some of the aforementioned movies,” Smith said.
They are also involved in the Broadway musical adaptation of 10 Things with music by Carly Rae Jepsen.
“We’ve cast it and done a couple run-throughs,” McCullah said.
In addition to the Q&A screening, Smith said she is looking forward to buying a ticket to her own movie at her local theater to enjoy it with a crowd.
“I hope they dress up in pink,” Smith said.
