Lexi Minetree looks exactly like Elle Woods. Heart-shaped face, wide blue eyes, America’s sweetheart smile, buttery blonde blowout. The uncanny resemblance is the first thing people usually point out when they learn that Lexi is playing a teenage version of the character immortalized by Reese Witherspoon in 2001. But it’s also something Lexi has been hearing for years, long before she ever auditioned for the new Prime Video series Elle.

“My whole life, strangers on the street have come up to me and been like, ‘You know, you look a lot like Reese Witherspoon,’” she tells me at a café near New York’s Central Park.

It’s weeks before the Elle premiere on July 1 and Lexi is in green,¹ a shade that sits all the way across the color wheel from Elle’s signature pink: namely, a sage tank top with matching green frog earrings, baggy jeans, sneakers, and a faux-fur hooded coat she’d thrifted in London. The only real sign that she might be at work on a big Hollywood production is her manicure—acrylics with a white French tip a bit thicker than what’s in style now. Elle is set in the mid-’90s, and since Lexi has just flown in from Vancouver, where she’s filming season 2,² her nails are still in costume. As we settle in at an outdoor table, two elementary school–age boys inside bang on the window to get our attention—one cavalierly wields a bunless hot dog like a sword. “I think they’re in love with us,” Lexi quips.

Lexi’s life is currently somewhere between pink and green, glamazon French tips, and plastic frog earrings. Last year, she was thrust into the spotlight when Reese Witherspoon, Elle’s executive producer, announced to the world that Lexi would be the next Elle Woods.³ But when we meet, the world still hasn’t seen her as Elle yet. I joke that the hot dog boys will one day consider this a core memory—that time they harassed Lexi Minetree at Sant Ambroeus before they knew who she was.

Lexi was born the year Legally Blonde came out, yet Elle Woods is as beloved to Lexi’s peers as she was the day she walked onto screens in a hot-pink halter dress 25 years ago, subverting the “dumb blonde” trope that had been a mainstay of film and television. The movie transcended its initial success to become a kind of cultural fact: “I’ve always known Legally Blonde,” Lexi says as she shares her memories of the franchise, which eventually included not only the sequel but also the Broadway show.

Elle’s staying power can’t only be chalked up to her epic one-liners and Y2K outfits—it’s her entire persona, her can-do attitude, that continues to cement her legacy with millions of young women. Elle wants to fly high without bringing others down, and she wants to look good while doing it. And now, for the first time, the latest generation that grew up on her will see her brought to life by one of their own.

Lexi is a newcomer in the truest sense, increasingly rare in a world of nepo babies and “breakout” stars who have actually been racking up credits for a decade. Before booking Elle, her biggest project was a guest spot on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where she, ironically, played a law student. She got the role after graduating from the School of Dramatic Arts at USC in Los Angeles in 2024. Her IMDb page is still sparse, with only a few stills from Elle, a set of very blonde and very pink headshots, and exactly one red carpet appearance at a Power of Young Hollywood event that has since been removed.

Taking on a character as treasured as Elle Woods would be intimidating for anyone but especially for an actor less than two years out of drama school. It’s a reality Lexi freely admits: “Stepping into shoes that are enormous and pink and six inches tall can be scary,” she says. But she still set her sights on the role as soon as the open casting call was announced, transforming a simple self-tape into an over-the-top, pinked-out proposal in the style of Elle’s iconic Harvard admissions tape from the original movie. The rest was just a matter of blonde ambition.

^{1. When I ask if Lexi was a pink girl growing up, she tells me she wasn’t. She was all about the color green. She loves pink now, just not for days off: “I do think that if I were to wear pink now, though, it would feel like I’m back at work.”}

^{2. The fact that Lexi is already filming season 2—before episode 1 of season 1 has even aired—is a huge deal in Hollywood terms and says a lot about the confidence the studio has in her and the show.}

^{3. The video—in which Reese asks Lexi, “Are we the same person?”—captured the first time Lexi received the news herself. It currently has more than 14 million views on TikTok.}

Cosmo plays a big role in Elle as your character’s dream place to intern. And now here you are, with an actual Cosmo cover.

If you had told me a year and a half ago that I’d be doing the cover of Cosmo, I don’t think I would’ve believed you. I had just graduated from college and moved to New York City. I was trying to be an actor.

Where did you originally grow up?

I’m from Atlanta, Georgia.

Oh my gosh, I was born in Atlanta.

Okay, fellow Southerner. I had a very normal upbringing. I am a total theater kid and a total nerd. I was really into gaming and Pokémon. If you had met me, you would never in a million years be like, “Yep, that’s going to be Elle Woods.”

Your frog earrings feel Pokémon-esque to me.

I’m going to take that as a compliment. I liked Pokémon before it was cool. I was a huge reader. That’s what drew me into acting, when I found out you could insert yourself into the story. I was also very emotional as a kid. I felt things strongly, and acting was the first place I could use those emotions for good, where you’re applauded for showing feelings. Then I said every parent’s worst nightmare: “I want to be an actor.”

Your parents are both accountants. How have they reacted to all of this?

They’ve been so supportive. I honestly have the best family ever.⁴

^{4. Lexi carved out time from filming to watch her high-school-age sister perform in a hometown production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. When I suggest that her sister must think Lexi’s the coolest person in the world, Lexi says, “She’s the coolest person.”}

Were you already living in New York when you auditioned for Elle?

Yeah. After I moved, I got initiated in the most New York way possible by booking Law & Order: SVU. That character’s arc is very different from Elle’s, but at the end of the episode, she says, “I’m going to go back to school and I’m going to become a kick-ass lawyer.” Which feels very much like an Elle Woods premonition.

What was the process of auditioning through open casting like?

When they first announced it, five of my friends immediately texted me. I was like, “I have to recreate her Harvard admissions video, where she’s in the hot tub in her pink sequined bikini instead of writing an admissions letter. She’s going above and beyond and doing her version of it.”

So literally, that day, I went and got a pink bikini and I wrote a script and filmed everything. My mom helped me. I had these pink weights and I was knitting and showing my different interests. I added music and I edited it together. It took me so long, but I was so proud of it. I believe that if you’re having a fun time with your work, then other people will, too.

I loved the manifestation photo shoot you did before you booked the role, where you’re wearing all pink and looking very Elle Woods. Can you tell me about that?

I used to have brown hair. Everyone knows you can dye your hair or put on a wig, but if you show them that you’re the character, it makes it that much easier.⁵ I had just gone blonde by happenstance, so I didn’t have any pictures as a blonde yet. And I was like, “You know what? When they look me up, I want them to see Elle Woods. I don’t want them to even hesitate.”

I contacted one of my friends, Natalie, who’s a fantastic photographer, and we did this really fun photo shoot in L.A. where I’m wearing pink. I remember I put the photos up on my IMDb and everything. I’m so glad I did, because when the casting news started leaking, people were like, “Oh, she looks just like Elle Woods.” You have to dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

^{5. Lexi says that her double major in PR and theater helped her learn the importance of creating the vision you want people to see.}

Do you have an affirmation practice aside from the Elle Woods photo shoot?

Before booking the role, I talked to my cousin who’s a life coach and big into manifesting. She told me you should always speak what you want into existence as if it’s already happened. So say, “Oh, I can’t believe I booked this role,” even if you haven’t gotten it yet. Just by saying those words, it’s putting you in a mindset of where you want to be.

Words have power. And what I love about Elle is that even though she still does the work, she speaks so positively about herself and is so confident in her abilities that she almost manifests them.

What was the experience of finding out you got the role like?

I didn’t know I’d be meeting Reese that day. They told me I was meeting someone from Hello Sunshine and someone from Amazon. When I got there that morning, Jason Moore, who’s the director of the first two episodes, sat me down and he goes, “Okay, I just found this out. It’s not those two people. It’s actually Reese. She wants to do a scene with you.” I was like, “Oh, great. Reese wants to do a scene with me. I’ve prepared nothing. Great!”

You’re like, “I’m wearing my pink. My hair is blonde. Let’s get in there.”

I walked in, she gave me the biggest hug, and we did this acting scene together, which is why they were filming. And then she sat me down, and that became the video of her telling me I got the role. They just continued to film, and I’m really glad they did because it was a blur to receive news that basically changed my entire life.

They told me that, other than my mom, I couldn’t tell anyone for 24 hours because they wanted to be the ones to announce it. So I had this crazy secret with me for a whole day. I got this news and I took the subway home. I went to Planet Fitness. I was the same person but with this huge secret.

You’re texting your group like, “The reading went well today.”

I had to lie to so many people. And ironically, even though I love to act, I’m a really bad liar. Don’t catch me in the game Mafia. I’m going to crack. I’m really grateful, though, because once it was announced, it was like Pandora’s box being opened, with thousands of calls and texts from family and friends. But for those 24 hours, it was mine.

Were you all of a sudden in this whirlwind getting ready for the show?

As soon as I booked it, I was like, “Please give me as much material as you possibly can.” We had eight episodes, which was, like, 450 pages of dialogue. We filmed for five months, and of those five months, I had two days off. A lot of days, I’d get to set and work 12 to 15 hours, then I’d get home, dissociate for 30 minutes, and go down to the gym and run my lines on the StairMaster.

It’s actually very Elle Woods to do that.

She does it in the movie. She’s on the elliptical and she has a textbook open.

In the show, teenage Elle moves from Bel Air to Seattle. There’s a connection with your real life, where you’re being thrust into Hollywood and fame. Is that something you’ve thought about?

Definitely. As an actor, you always try to pull from your own experiences when you’re thinking about your character. I’ve never lived in Seattle and I’ve never lived in Bel Air, but we’ve all come into contact with experiences where you’re a fish out of water.

What’s cool about this show is that you get to see a side of Elle Woods that’s a little more insecure. In Legally Blonde, there’s the iconic scene where she walks into the party in the bunny outfit and no one else is in costume. There’s a moment where you see her think, Oh crap, but then she smiles and she owns it. It’s a small thing, but I always wondered where she got that confidence to just own it. In Elle, you get to see where she learned to own who she is, even if she’s sticking out.

There’s been this bigger cultural moment around girlhood in the past few years with the Barbie movie, bows on everything, girl dinner, girl math—this whole obsession on social media. What did you want to get right about the portrayal of girlhood?

I really wanted to be the role model that I would have wanted when I was in high school. At that time in my life, I wasn’t very sure of myself. Elle is a character that really pushes you to be yourself and accept who you are. Own whatever you’ve got and surround yourself with people who are going to uplift that part of you. Don’t change just because people judge you. The right people will come around.

What do you think Elle, the character, represents to your generation?

She is someone who—no matter what, even if she fails—gets back up, dusts herself off, and keeps going.

Specifically for people who grew up on social media, it feels like there’s this all-or-nothing attitude: “Oh, I already messed up today, so I’m just going to stay in bed and rot.”

It’s not about the failure; it’s about what you do after the failure that defines you. Elle is not afraid to own her mistakes and learn from them. I think if I had seen this when I was younger, it would have empowered me to not be afraid to take a risk, take a leap. A lot of times things seem so far out of reach and it’s like, “Am I even capable of doing something?” Obviously, those feelings are human, and I have those feelings all the time. But it’s just like, You know what? I’m just going to go for it. I’m just going to try.

Lead image: Jumpsuit Dolce & Gabbana, bra and underwear Araks, bracelet Chopard.

Styled by Kaia Carioli. Hair by Rei Kawauchi for Kérastase. Makeup by Sena Murahashi at MA+ Group. Manicure by Ada Yeung for Zoya.