Why Mindy Kaling Struggled To Write 'Legally Blonde 3'
In 2020, Mindy Kaling announced that she was teaming up with Dan Goor to write the highly anticipated, Legally Blonde 3. The movie will still feature its lead star, Reese Witherspoon. It's been a while since the announcement, but they haven't started shooting yet. Apparently, The Office actress had a tough time writing the script that she had to delay the film's production. Here's why.
Inside Mindy Kaling's 'Juicy Story' For 'Legally Blonde 3'
Recently, the multi-hyphenate gushed about her progress with the script for Legally Blonde 3. She said it would have a "juicy story" to look forward to. "I love this project. I am so excited about it. We are working on it," she said while promoting her collaboration with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "It is going, you know, a little more slowly than we like but [it's] just because we really want it to be good." She added that every writer "would kill to write for" Witherspoon's iconic character, Elle Woods.
"[She] is just someone who all writers would kill to write for. She is so funny. She elevates any material," she explained. "And she is just like... She can just do a glance, it is just hilarious. And so as a writer, it's the jackpot. Especially in that character, her character, [beautician] Paulette, is so funny and their dynamic is so funny. It's been really great. She [has] a very juicy story in this one. That's all I can say, and by the way, Elle has a very juicy story. The two of them, seeing what they look like now after 20 years, is really fun."
The Late Night writer previously told Access that she and Goor "wrote Elle Woods at 40, so how Elle is at 40 versus how she was at 21 has been really fun to imagine." She added that she "can't wait to see what people will think of the way we wrote [her]."
Why Mindy Kaling Had A Hard Time Writing 'Legally Blonde 3'
Kaling said that she's currently taking her time perfecting the script after feeling "uncomfortable" watching Sex and the City's hated reboot, And Just Like That. "I found it was too uncomfortable to watch," she said of the HBO series. "I felt like I could commiserate with the producers and the writers of the show, trying to address all these issues from the past, and be funny and fabulous, but also sort of apologize for itself." Now, she's having a hard time creating an "authentic" plot for Legally Blonde 3.
"The hardest thing about this project is trying to figure that out in an authentic way," she continued. "Honestly, watching And Just Like That, and how they took a character from 18 years ago, and how the character was now—we want to make sure that Elle Woods is not paying penance for existing in the year 2022." She just wants to make sure that Elle — a feminist hero — wouldn't be canceled in this present time (thank God). "I think of it like Reese's Avengers. Elle Woods is like her Captain America," Kaling said. "And so you don't want to be the person that messes up that story. So for me, we are just taking our time because we want it to be really good."
What Reese Witherspoon Has Said About 'Legally Blonde 3'
We're sure Witherspoon supports Kaling in taking her time with the script. During a Zoom interview with Backstage in December 2021, the Cruel Intentions star echoed the writer's sentiments about preserving Elle's original persona. According to her, Legally Blonde still appeals to younger generations because it's a "feminist" film. "The movie is such a feminist movie too, at the time, about really that your life doesn't have to be defined by your romantic relationships," said the actress. "It can be defined by your girlfriends, by your sense of self-worth, by your job, your education, your accomplishment. So it's interesting to visit characters 20 years later."
She also revealed that viewers would see a lot of her and Jennifer Coolidge's character, Paulette. "I wish I could take a poll of everybody watching to say like, 'What do you wanna see us do?'" said Witherspoon, "I mean, just the idea of being anywhere with Jennifer would be the greatest. And visiting characters 20 years later to see what's changed about them and what hasn't." Wrapping up the interview, she gestured to herself and The White Lotus star, and said, "It's a lot of me and this lady. That's all I have to say."
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