Reese Witherspoon: Legally Blonde 3 Wants Jennifer Coolidge

February 4, 2023

Coolidge said last year that she had not yet been approached to reprise her role as manicurist Paulette Bonafonte.

Reese Witherspoon knows there’s no Elle Woods without perfect manicurist-turned-best-friend Paulette Bonafonté.

The “Legally Blonde” icon knocked out two-time co-star Jennifer Coolidge, who played Paulette in both installments of the franchise.

“There is no ‘Legally Blonde 3’ without Jennifer Coolidge,” Witherspoon said. Fun tonightdespite Coolidge previously revealing it in October 2022, he has yet to be approached to reprise his role.

Witherspoon continued about the “White Lotus” Emmy winner: “I’m over the moon about Jennifer Coolidge. She deserves all the flowers she’s getting right now. And he’s just one of those people who’s just naturally so talented and funny, and you can just tell people that he loves him because he gets up and everybody’s like, “I love him,” but he’s done so much good work in business for so long that it’s great to see that you had this incredible moment.”

“Legally Blonde 3” is written by Mindy Kaling and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” co-creator Dan Goor. Kaling teased that the third film, based around the Harvard Law School alum, questions whether Elle Woods would do it at 42 and 22. Time magazine that she never wants Elle Woods to “get fired or become Karen.”

Similar decades-later revivals like “And Just Like That” and “Top Gun: Maverick” served as inspiration, or sometimes, what not, “Legally Blonde 3.”

“We don’t want to be responsible for ruining Reese’s ‘Avengers’ franchise,” Kaling said of Witherspoon’s iconic role.

Witherspoon added, “I feel like these characters are my friends, so I protect them. I would never do a lower, mediocre version of their story.”

And Kaling confirmed that Coolidge’s character is “1,000 percent” returning for the third installment, even though Coolidge’s agent has yet to be contacted.

“(She’s) just someone that any writer would kill to write for,” Kaling said. “So funny. He lifts up any material and he’s like… He can just take a look, it’s just hilarious. And so as a writer, that’s the jackpot. Especially in that character, her character, the (cosmetic) Paulette, is so funny and their dynamic is so funny. It is great. It has a very juicy story. That’s all I can say, and by the way, Elle has a very juicy story. Seeing the two of them look like 20 years later is so much fun.”

Coolidge stated that although he knew “nothing” about the film, he was “of course” interested.

“I mean, I don’t know if they were trying to surprise me or something because I hear a lot about it,” Coolidge said. Fun tonight. “I heard Mindy has this amazing version of our next round, but I haven’t seen it yet. I don’t have a call yet.”

He added, “Legally blonde”? Why not? Reese and Mindy!”

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