Sometimes a Hollywood actor or actress embodies a role so perfectly that you simply can’t see anyone else playing the part. One perfect example is Reese Witherspoon and her star-making turn as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. But despite bringing to life one of the best movie characters in recent memory, the actress says she had to jump through some arduous – and sleazy hoops – to get the part.
Chatting to The Hollywood Reporter, Reese talked about how her great performance in Election caused both the audience and Hollywood folks to typecast her as a “shrew.” This in turn caused casting agents and studio heads to not approve of her, which led to the incredibly demeaning advice of being “told to dress sexy” if she wanted future roles, which included Legally Blonde.
“My manager finally called and said, ‘You’ve got to go meet with the studio head because he will not approve you. He thinks you really are your character from Election and that you’re repellent.’ And then I was told to dress sexy.”
Not only did she have to “dress sexy,”, Reese recalled how she had to go through “multiple rounds” of auditions for Legally Blonde, one of which included meeting with the suits while in character.
“I remember a room full of men who were asking me questions about being a coed and being in a sorority,” she says, “even though I had dropped out of college four years earlier and I have never been inside a sorority house.”
Looking back on the gross advice and intense Legally Blonde auditions, Reese says she was in a position where she did what people told her to do because she was young, had a baby and needed the money.
“And you’re 23, you have a baby at home, you need the money and you’re being told that by people who know what they’re doing. It’s funny to think of all the things we were told to do back then because now you’re thinking, ‘Oh God, if somebody told my daughter to do that, she’d be like, I really hope you’re joking.'”
But as sleazy as the whole process was, it ultimately paid off big-time for everyone as Legally Blonde was a huge hit and Reese Witherspoon became a household name.
It’s just a shame that she had to do what she did to get her star-turning role because while many actresses could pull off cute sorority girl or studious lawyer, only Reese Witherspoon could’ve pulled off Elle Woods.
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