The Legally Blonde franchise announced it would adapt a prequel series, Elle, on Amazon Prime Video. Prime ordered the series in May 2024 and began searching for a young and upcoming actress to play the teenage Elle Woods. After many months, they landed on their choice in February 2025, with the casting of Elle's parents following in March. Ten months into the process, the Legally Blonde prequel TV series has completed the Woods family trio.
There isn't much known about Elle Woods' parents, but there are brief scenes of them in the movies. We can assume they played crucial roles in Elle's teen years. Because their parts are essential, fans will expect great acting from the prequel's actors.
As of March, Prime Video announced that Tom Everett Scott and June Diane Raphael will appear as Elle Woods' parents in Elle. James Read and Tane McClure previously held the parts of Elle's parents in Legally Blonde and its 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. Although their parts are only listed as her mother and father in the credits, Elle's parents' names are Wyatt and Eva in the prequel series. As a longtime fan, I couldn't have told you their names, given how small their roles were in Elle's adult life.
Legally Blonde prequel series casts Elle's parents
Fans of the Summer I Turned Pretty will instantly recognize Tom Everett Scott as Conrad and Jeremiah's father. He'll star alongside June Diane Raphael, who starred in Bride Wars and many other projects. Both actors are well known, but can they do Elle's parents justice?
Were her parents more proud of her dreams in high school because she was doing beauty contests? Were they more involved in their daughter's teen years? I hope that the Elle prequel fleshes out Wyatt and Eva Woods into full, well-rounded characters. In 24 years, we still aren't sure who these people are outside of parents to Elle Woods. If Prime Video plans to reveal more pieces of Elle's story, we would have to believe we'd also see more of her parents' storyline.
Elle will hopefully fill in a few holes from the movies about where Elle's work ethic and determination come from. Based on the first movie, her parents didn't seem onboard with her attending law school to become a lawyer. Their bold statements set the tone for their characters. Elle's mother's comment wasn't too bad. It revealed Elle's past and questioned why she was "throwing all that away" for Harvard. Her mother couldn't believe her daughter wanted to chase a dream that didn't involve a beauty contest. Her father's comment was much harsher as he made law students sound awful and uneventful, noting that "law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious." Although he follows up by saying his daughter isn't any of those things, which is sweet, his stereotyping of law school students doesn't make him likable.
On the other hand, Elle attends Harvard and they stereotype her as a dumb blonde because of her hair and all pink attire. Legally Blonde proves through Elle's character that we can only be ourselves because we will never make everyone happy. As long as we make ourselves happy and treat others with kindness, then we'll be okay.
Reese Witherspoon's breakout role as Elle Woods in 2001's Legally Blonde movie continues to impact young women worldwide. Starring in two Legally Blonde movies, Witherspoon deeply loves her character to this day, which is why she was the perfect person to deliver the casting news to her successor, Lexi Minetree.
Elle Woods proved that women can wear pink, have blonde hair, and attend law school while looking fabulous and outsmarting even the toughest peers. Although many Legally Blonde musicals — Broadway and smaller theaters — have been made, casting many women for the part of Elle, this will be the first television adaptation of the series since the movie premiered 24 years ago. Casting Elle's younger self was crucial, as the series will follow the events before she attends Harvard Law.
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