It’s been a quarter of a century since the sparky, Chihuahua-toting criminal defence lawyer Elle Woods first charmed a generation of Millennials in the 2001 hit Legally Blonde, turning the blonde bimbo stereotype on its coiffed head.Despite being just a few months old when the original film premiered, American actor Lexi Minetree – the star of the film’s TV series prequel Elle – grew up watching Reese Witherspoon’s iconic character.“When I first saw the movie, I misunderstood it, as a lot of people do. You think you’re watching a girl who is very ditzy and following a man, and then she learns to overcome these expectations. When in reality, I think Elle is capable from the get-go,” says Minetree, who is now 25, the same age Witherspoon was when the role shot her to fame.Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods with puppy Bruiser.Prime Video/AP“Both of us are very silly. We both are very hardworking. We love our friends,” Minetree says of her similarities to her character.Jessica Brooks/Prime“She is very smart. She gets a 179 on her LSAT [Law School Admission Test]. That’s a really good score to get [just one point shy of a perfect 180], and she does that even before the arc of her character growth.”Minetree (pronounced MIN-eh-tree) is sitting in a suite at Sydney’s Intercontinental Hotel. She’s weeks into a gruelling global press tour (styled exclusively in pink), but on this rainy Thursday afternoon, outfitted in a musk and green beaded mini dress, she’s beaming. It’s her first time in Australia, and she turns to look out the window at the famous Sydney vista behind her. “My security guy, Andrew, was saying that people climb the bridge over there. And I want to do that really bad,” she says.For Minetree, the film has morphed from being just a fuzzy childhood watch to her entire world. She has now watched Legally Blonde hundreds of times more, studying the character’s micro expressions (eager, expressive), gait (bouncy, assured) and intonation (bubbly, airy) with forensic-level fervour to prepare.“As soon as I start getting into her, she lifts me up,” says Minetree. “I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline rush or what, but she always lifted my spirits whenever I got to play her.”Set in 1995, the show, which has already been commissioned for season two, follows a young Elle Woods, whose family is forced to flee California to the grungy streets of Seattle after her cosmetic surgeon father botches a famous client’s nose job.Lexi Minetree stars as the teenage version of Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods in the prequel series Elle. Sitthixay DitthavongElle’s sunny disposition initially grates with her Nirvana-loving, feminist-card-toting classmates, but, as in the original, she eventually wins everyone over with her tenacity and kindheartedness.“The more I’ve seen it, it’s about someone who knows they’re capable of things, because they’ve achieved hard things before,” says Minetree. “There’s going to be people out there who judge you based on how you look or what they think you are like, but ultimately, it only matters what you think and that if you’re true to yourself, people will start to recognise that.”The series grapples with heavier themes such as grief, as well as tackling sexual identity in a more nuanced way than the original by putting queer characters front and centre (Minetree admits some gay jokes in Legally Blonde have not aged well). “The show is obviously showing the ’90s, but it’s also to me, what the ’90s maybe could have been [aspirationally] if we had more openness,” she says.Minetree thinks the feminist politics of the original have stood up well – even if the “blonde bimbo stereotype” may not be entirely gone from pop culture. She even studied real-life, misunderstood “bimbos” of the 2000s – Britney Spears and Paris Hilton – for the role.“I’m like, ‘respect them’. But I think that Elle Woods shows a woman who is trying to escape that stereotype,” says Minetree. “The world constantly underestimates women, particularly very feminine-looking women, and I think that’s such a shame because we’re so much more than our looks.“If you’re putting care into aesthetics, then what’s not to say that you’re not going to put care into your job or care into your family and friends. So, the movie also shows, ‘Hey, this thing about her is actually what makes her stand out and gives her a leg up over other people.’”Minetree says Elle’s experience of constantly coming up against the odds – and sometimes failing – was all too familiar. “I’m an actor, we get rejected for a living,” she quips.To nab the role, Minetree pulled out all the stops, donning a pink bikini and re-creating Elle’s now iconic Harvard Admission’s video essay with her own twists (“all those in favour of Lexi being the next Elle Woods, say aye”).And it worked.Minetree, wearing the same Marc Jacobs dress Reese Witherspoon wore to the 2001 Legally Blonde premiere, with her predecessor in New York City in June.Getty ImagesMinetree, as Elle Woods, with Tom Everett Scott and June Diane Raphael as her parents Wyatt and Eva, in Elle. Minetree beat 5000 other hopefuls, having been hand-picked by Witherspoon, whose production company, Hello Sunshine, is behind the series. Witherspoon even captured the moment Minetree was cast on Instagram. “When I saw her tape, I was like, ‘Are we the same person? This is so weird’,” Witherspoon said.Minetree, who is a year younger than Witherspoon’s daughter Ava, says the veteran actor doled out some motherly advice. “She really emphasised taking care of myself, mentally, spiritually, physically. It was a marathon of a shooting process because I was there for 15 months, 16 hours a day,” she says.Despite her uncanny portrayal of the bubbly blonde, Minetree says they’re not as similar as some may think – for one, she is not a Gemini, nor is she a vegetarian.“Both of us are very silly. We both are very hardworking. We love our friends,” she says, adding: “But I’m more chill than she is. Aesthetically we’re very different. I like a boho, silly vibe. I wear ridiculous T-shirts and skirts and purples and greens and browns.”Minetree is also a natural brunette. Fortuitously, she dyed her hair blonde a few months before auditioning for Elle.“Whenever I dress like Elle, I feel like a different person. I can feel my posture getting better. But in terms of how people have perceived me, mostly it’s stayed the same,” she says.Minetree and Gabrielle Policano as her grungy musician classmate Liz in Elle.Their high school experiences are also where their stories diverge. Minetree was, by her own admission, less future sorority president and more of a nerd.“I was insufferable, that’s what I was,” Minetree jokes. “No, I was a big theatre kid. I was drama club president, thespian vice president. I loved my [Nintendo] DS. I was a big teacher’s pet – I did 13 Advanced Placement classes [college level classes offered in American high schools]. I was a try-hard. And I had a giant side part coming out the side of my ear.”As the series lead, Elle is a firm breakout role for the actor, and a sharp left from her previous film and TV credits – including small roles in Law & Order SVU and The Murdaugh Murders – which are more scream queen than sorority queen.Minetree also has an upcoming part alongside Nicole Kidman in horror filmmaker Osgood Perkins’ The Young People (coincidentally, Perkins appeared in the original Legally Blonde film).“Before this, I would have sworn on my life I was a dramatic actor. I was always being attacked, stalked, running for my life in the hospital. I have a victim face, apparently,” she says.Tapping into a bouncier, more comedic side (or her inner blonde), then, was a welcome change. “I didn’t know I had that in me. People are saying I’m funny and I’m like, ‘Wait you guys, what?’”Like her predecessor Witherspoon, Minetree is a southern girl. The eldest of four, she was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, by two accountant parents who have since divorced but with whom she remains close. “My mum really instilled my work ethic, and my dad really instilled my sense of humour. So I think both of those combined helped me with the project,” she says.After graduating from high school, she double majored in theatre and public relations at the University of Southern California (funnily enough, where much of the original Legally Blonde film was shot).Her younger sister, 10 years her junior, looks set to follow in her footsteps, having starred in a high school production of Legally Blonde: The Musical, which Minetree was in the audience for while shooting the series.“She did a [Elle] watch party with 20 of her friends, and my stepmum would send me videos of their reactions after each episode. It was, like, the best experience of my life,” says Minetree.“They were all screaming over each other about all the plot twists and who they were mad at that episode. To me, that’s what it’s all about – let’s bring girls together.”Elle is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Want more TV? We’ve got you.Newsletter: Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.July streaming guide: All the exciting new shows to watch this month.Louis CK returns: Nine years after his big scandal, the popular comedian is back on streaming. Is his new special any good?Tour de France: Caleb Ewan tells us what makes the famous race so special.Best (and worst) TV finales: We ranked some of the most legendary final episodes – and no, Breaking Bad didn’t top the list.Video: Deputy TV editor Meg Watson on the shows she recommends watching right now (below).