It’s hard to imagine Legally Blonde without Reese Witherspoon playing the now-iconic character of Elle Woods. But it turns out other people were considered — including one of the world’s most famous pop stars.
“The name Britney Spears was briefly floated,” says Legally Blonde co-writer Kiwi Smith on the latest episode of the Hollywood Gold podcast. But once the acclaimed 1999 Alexander Payne film Election came out, all involved agreed that its star, Reese Witherspoon, was perfect for the role.
“It just felt like ‘oh my god, this is the woman to play Elle,"” Smith says, noting Witherspoon was smart, funny, beautiful and, as a bonus, had actually gone to Stanford, which is known for its law school.
Legally Blonde now joins a list of other incredibly successful films that Britney Spears could have been in, including The Notebook — which she auditioned for but didn’t get — and the Oscar-winning Chicago, which she turned down, according to her book.
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