‘Elle’ actress reveals how the ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel cast bonded

The cast of the “Legally Blonde” prequel, “Elle,” had a special bonding activity during filming.

“We hung out in [‘Elle’ lead actress Lexi Minetree’s] room and watched ‘Legally Blonde,’” Danielle Chand exclusively told Page Six.

“It was funny watching the movie with Lexi because she knew all of the words,” she added of the 2001 classic. “I think she’s watched the movie something like 150 times. We were just immersed, and loving it.” 

Now streaming on Prime Video, “Elle” was executive produced by Reese Witherspoon.

The show follows Witherspoon’s iconic “Legally Blonde” character, Elle Woods, during her high school years in the mid-‘90s, as her family is forced to move from Los Angeles to Seattle.

Minetree stars as the teen version of Elle.

Chand plays Shannon, a popular girl at Elle’s new school. Although Elle is the ultimate confident sorority girl in “Legally Blonde,” in “Elle,” the title character thinks Shannon is the coolest, and is desperate to befriend her.

While the other students scoff at Elle, Shannon is the only one who is nice to her.

“Me and Shannon have a lot in common in terms of just being very welcoming and being very cheery,” said Chand. 

“Being new anywhere is scary and I always want to be a nice, welcoming face for anyone,” she explained. “So when I saw that that was how Elle and Shannon met, I was like, ‘perfect!’”

The show is Chand’s first major role. 

The Canadian actress told Page Six she was in acting class when she got the call she’d landed the role.

“I ran outside because I wanted to take the call alone, because I didn’t know what was going to be on the other end of that phone call,” she recounted. “And then as soon as [my agent] told me that I booked it, I ran back inside with my class, and we did one big group hug, and I just was bawling my eyes out.”

It’s also a posthumous role for James Van Der Beek, as the “Dawson’s Creek” alum filmed it before his death at 48 from cancer in February. 

“I didn’t get to meet James Vander Beek,” Chand said. “But I’m really glad that he was able to be a part of the show and that his legacy will live on.”

She continued: “And everyone who did talk to him and got to meet him, they told me that he was just a delight to work with.”

The show has already been renewed for a Season 2, but Season 1 leaves Shannon’s future uncertain.

When asked whether she’ll be in Season 2, Chand told Page Six, “You’ll have to wait and find out.”