‘Legally Blonde’ 25 Years Later: 25 Things You Didn’t Know About the Movie

It's been 25 years since "Legally Blonde" introduced Reese Witherspoon's Elle Woods, and Us Weekly has compiled 25 things fans may not know about the movie. The film, which hit theaters on July 13, 2001, was based on Amanda Brown's novel of the same name, which drew from her experiences at Stanford Law School. While set at Harvard, the movie was filmed at several California colleges, including USC and UCLA. Christina Applegate turned down the role of Elle, and Witherspoon was initially hesitant, worrying the character was too close to Clueless's Cher. The iconic "bend and snap" scene came from "a drunken moment in a bar," according to cowriter Karen McCullah. The film's opening sequence features "Perfect Day" by Hoku, and over the course of the film, Elle sports over 40 different hairstyles. The original ending was changed after test audiences wanted to see Elle succeed in the future, leading to the iconic montage ending.