Elle Woods is the protagonist of Amanda Brown's 2001 novel ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...

'' and the 2001 film of the same name as well as the 2003 sequel, '' Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde''. Woods is also the protagonist of the 2007 Broadway adaptation of the movie.

In pop culture

Elle Woods first appeared as the protagonist of ''

'', a novel by Amanda Brown. Later, Woods was portrayed by

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

in the films ''

'' (2001) and '' Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde'' (2003). The character was then portrayed in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical adaptation of the first film, '' Legally Blonde - The Musical.'' Elle Woods is also the basis of a series of

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

novels by Natalie Standiford. The character is mentioned but not seen in a 2009 direct-to-video sequel, ''

Legally Blondes ''Legally Blondes'' is a 2009 American direct-to-DVD comedy film. It is a spin-off of the ''Legally Blonde'' film series. It was directed by Savage Steve Holland and co-produced by Reese Witherspoon, who played Elle Woods in the first two ...

'', which portrays the adventures of her twin British cousins. In 2018

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

referenced Elle in several scenes of her "

Thank U, Next ''Thank U, Next'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Ariana Grande, released on February 8, 2019, by Republic Records. It was released six months after her fourth studio album '' Sweetener'' (2018), conceived in the midst of Grande ...

" music video.

''Legally Blonde'' films

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' put Elle Woods on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying, "She's blonde, bubbly and carries a tiny Chihuahua. But despite the inevitable

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...

comparisons, Reese Witherspoon's ''Legally Blonde'' dynamo managed to be taken seriously. Case closed!"

Broadway adaptation

Woods has been portrayed by eleven different actresses in different stagings of '' Legally Blonde - The Musical'': Gabby Cinque, Olivia Mezzerina, ,

Bailey Hanks Bailey Noel Hanks Weidman (born Bailey Noel Hanks; February 6, 1988) is an American singer, actress, and dancer best known for winning MTV's '' Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods''. She performed on Broadway as Elle Woods i ...

Sayaka Kanda was a Japanese actress and singer. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda. Early life Kanda was born in Chiyoda, Tokyo. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and Seiko Matsuda. Her paternal grandmother ...

, Barbara Obermeier and in the West End by

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints of ...

(who was later replaced by her ''

'' co-star

Susan McFadden Susan McFadden (born 8 February 1983) is an Irish actress and singer. She is best known for playing the roles of Sandy in '' Grease'' and Elle Woods in '' Legally Blonde the Musical'' in London's West End and being a member of Celtic Woman from ...

). From July 2011

Carley Stenson Carley Stenson (born 22 September 1982) is an English actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Steph Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' and Harriet Shelton in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors''. For her role as Steph, s ...

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 the Delta Nu House at the fictional California University Los Angeles (CULA) (

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

in the musical) where she studies in Fashion Merchandising and maintains a 4.0 GPA. Woods' boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, the son of a U.S.

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

, 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 Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

, 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, Vivian Kensington, who is a member of the same country club as Warner's family. 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, and beginning a relationship with Emmett Richmond. 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 Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...

. After getting fired for trying to bring up the testing facility, Elle goes to work on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

, 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 Emmett asks her where she wants to live.

References

External links

Interview with Carley Stenson - Elle Woods
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Elle Characters in American novels of the 21st century Comedy film characters Female characters in literature Female characters in film Fictional beauty queens Fictional characters from Los Angeles Fictional feminists and women's rights activists Fictional Harvard University people Fictional American lawyers Fictional models Literary characters introduced in 2001 Reese Witherspoon Legally Blonde (franchise) Fictional vegan and vegetarian characters Female characters in musical theatre Fictional female lawyers