Prime Video’s streaming service is preparing an unexpected turn in the Legally Blonde universe: the new series Elle will tell the story of the iconic heroine’s teenage years as she relocates from sunny California to the gloomy Seattle of the mid-’90s. At the center is 15-year-old Elle Woods (Lexi Minetri), whose family is forced to leave luxurious Bel-Air after her father (Tom Everett Scott) takes a job in Washington State’s healthcare sector.
The showrunners are leaning into the contrast between Elle’s pink world and the gritty aesthetic of grunge-era Seattle. The action takes place in 1995, when the city was experiencing a boom in alternative culture and locals were commonly seen in flannel shirts. The protagonist will confront “backstabbing friendships, forbidden romance and questionable fashion choices,” producers Laura Kittrell and Caroline Dries promise.
Notably, the series continues Hollywood’s unfortunate tradition of shooting Seattle-set projects outside the actual city: filming took place in Los Angeles and British Columbia, not in Seattle itself. This practice is explained by tax incentives and production costs. Canada, especially Vancouver, offers studios substantial tax breaks as well as lower labor and rental expenses. Vancouver also looks a lot like Seattle visually: the same coniferous forests, rainy climate and waterfront urban scenery. Shooting in Seattle itself is often more expensive and complicated due to bureaucracy and high permit fees. The same fate befell recent hits such as The Boat Odyssey and the second season of The Last of Us — although their stories are set in Washington, their real locations were replaced with Canadian landscapes.
Elle joins an exclusive club of films set in late-20th-century Seattle, including cult classics like 10 Things I Hate About You and Sleepless in Seattle. These films became benchmarks because they captured the unique atmosphere of 1990s Seattle. Sleepless in Seattle (1993) romanticized the city as a place of longing, rain and coziness, and scenes on houseboats and at Pike Place Market became iconic. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) portrayed youth-oriented Seattle with its house parties, schools and views of Mount Rainier — the movie was filmed in real city locations such as the local high school and Gascoyne Park. These films are valued for their authenticity: they don’t hide the overcast sky or idealize the city, but show it as it is — melancholy, alive and beautiful in its own way. Whether the creators of Elle will be able to capture that atmosphere, viewers will find out on July 1, when the first episode premieres on Prime Video. It remains to be seen whether the new Elle can charm the world as strikingly as her adult version from the original film.
Based on: 'Elle,' new 'Legally Blonde' prequel on Prime Video, is set in Seattle