Any Cosmo girl would have known about the “Legally Blonde” alternate endings. But now star Selma Blair is finally weighing in on the scrapped LGBTQ original conclusion that showed Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) finding her happily ever after…with a surprising enemies-to-lovers twist.
During a 2021 oral history in honor of the film’s 20th anniversary, actress Jessica Cauffiel who played Elle’s best friend Margot told The New York Times that Elle and Vivian (Blair) ended up together, with romantic connotations.
“The first ending was Elle and Vivian in Hawaii in beach chairs, drinking margaritas and holding hands,” Cauffiel explained. “The insinuation was either they were best friends or they had gotten together romantically.”
However, audiences didn’t like the ending, so a few more were filmed.
“The second or third ending was a musical number on the courtroom steps, and as Elle came out, the judge, jury and everybody in the courtroom broke into song and dance,” Cauffiel continued. “I’ve been waiting for somebody to leak that for 20 years.”
Screenwriters Karen McCullah and Kristen Smith also noted additional endings, including one where Elle and Vivian, who is also now blonde, started the Blonde Legal Defense Club and were handing out fliers in the Harvard Law School quad. Another option was ending with a kiss between Elle and Emmett (Luke Wilson), but eventually the current conclusion with Elle giving the law school graduation speech was decided upon.
In a recent episode of the “Shut Up Evan” podcast (via The Independent), star Blair addressed the ending that Vivian and Elle ended up together.
“I love that idea! What fun,” the “Cruel Intentions” star said, before admitting she didn’t remember the scene in question (Both McCullah and Smith denied the queer ending was filmed, however actress Alanna Ubach corroborated it.)
Blair added, “I’m friends with Karen [McCullah] and [Kristen Smith] that wrote it. But I would’ve loved that so much. Let’s go with that. I think it’s so much fun.”
The “Mean Baby” author did remember dyeing her hair for the other alternate ending with Elle and Vivian both being blonde: “There was an ending that Vivian was blonde, and I did [go blonde],” Blair shared. “I have the Polaroids. I looked just like Faye Dunaway in ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’ The beret was on and the blonde.”
While Cauffiel said it was “very raunchy” and scribe Smith said it drew from inspirations like “Clueless” and “The Paper Chase,” plus per Cauffiel, a dash of “American Pie,” the Robert Luketic-directed comedy spurred two sequels (Mindy Kaling’s upcoming “Legally Blonde 3” is set for a 2023 release date) and a Broadway musical.
“There were some differences in the manuscript,” McCullah reflected to the NYT. “It wasn’t a murder trial, and she ended up with a professor, so we made some changes. It was a matter of finessing the details and adding a few characters, like Paulette and her friendship.”
Cauffiel revealed, “Originally, there was a line when [her friend] Serena says, ‘What’s the one thing that always makes us feel better no matter what?’ And I say, ‘Cunnilingus.’ That was actually a line in the film. We thought when we went to the premiere that it was still that edgy, raunchy edit.”
There’s no telling which director “Legally Blonde 3” will go in…But of course, any “Legally Blonde” line is instantly iconic.
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