‘Elle’ Bosses on Lexi Minetree’s Elle Woods Transformation and How the Late James Van Der Beek Rewrote His Character’s Ending

Streaming service Prime Video has renewed "Elle," its "Legally Blonde" prequel following a teenage Elle Woods, for a second season, with showrunners Laura Kittrell and Caroline Dries revealing that Season 2 has already been shot. Amazon reports that the series was the most-viewed show on Prime Video in its first week of release, validating the studio's early confidence after renewing the show back in January, before the first season had even premiered on 1 July.

Set in 1995, the series stars newcomer Lexi Minetree as Elle, whose life is upended when her family moves from Bel-Air to grunge-obsessed Seattle after her plastic surgeon father Wyatt (Tom Everett Scott) botches a procedure. Across eight episodes titled with quotes from the 2001 Reese Witherspoon film, Elle navigates new friendships and crushes while uncovering a school-funds conspiracy led by superintendent and mayoral candidate Dean Wilson, played by the late James Van Der Beek. The showrunners praised Van Der Beek — a "Dawson's Creek" star and childhood hero of theirs — for elevating the character, and the article notes he rewrote his character's ending.