Reese Witherspoon reunites with 'Legally Blonde' co-stars, 'Legally Blonde' 3 release announced
Just in time for a "Legally Blonde" reunion, MGM Studios confirmed that "Legally Blonde 3" is coming in May 2022.
Earlier this year, star Reese Witherspoon confirmed she would be returning to the franchise as Elle Woods (and as executive producer), while her former "A Wrinkle in Time" co-star Mindy Kaling was tapped to write the script with "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" creator Dan Goor.
In the meantime, the cast of the hit romantic comedy "Legally Blonde" reunited virtually on Tuesday,19 years after the film came out in July 2001, to raise money for World Central Kitchen.
During the event, the panel, which included Witherspoon, Jennifer Coolidge, Selma Blair and other cast members, reminisced about shooting the movie — and shared some behind-the-scenes secrets about an iconic scene.
In the film, the "bend and snap" is a move that Witherspoon's character, sorority-girl-turned-law-student Elle Woods, uses to get a man's attention, "and, when used appropriately, it has an 83% rate of return on a dinner invitation." Woods teaches the move to a group of people at a local hair salon in one of the film's most memorable scenes.
But according to the actress, filmmakers originally had bigger plans for the bend and snap that never made it onto the big screen.
"People always, always ask me to do the bend and snap," Witherspoon shared. "That was a full musical sequence that we ended up cutting out of the movie."
"We filmed that for a month," Coolidge noted.
"We had all of these dancers behind us, including Ryan Heffington was one of the dancers," Witherspoon continued. "It was just so fun, and it just felt odd, because it was only one musical sequence. But then, it made so much sense when they made a whole musical out of the movie."
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In 2007, the stage adaptation of "Legally Blonde" opened on Broadway, where the bend and snap finally got the full-blown musical treatment, with an over-three-minute-long song and dance sequence.
Witherspoon also revealed which "Legally Blonde" line fans remember the most: "What, like it's hard?"
"I remember it was burning hot outside," Witherspoon recalled of shooting the scene in which her character delivers the famous line to ex-boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis), after he asks her if she really got into Harvard Law School. "I was sweating buckets."
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According to the actress, Woods' confidence continues to inspire "Legally Blonde" fans around the world.
"I don't think any of us knew what this film was going to turn out to be, or how much it would inspire young women and young people around the world," she said. "I've traveled the entire world, and I've always, always — the movie that people stop me about is 'Legally Blonde.' And the thing that actually really touches my heart is more people stop me and say, 'I went to law school because of Elle Woods,' which is really amazing."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reese Witherspoon, 'Legally Blonde' cast reunite, talk bend and snap
