What The Cast Of Legally Blonde Looks Like Today

In 2001, "Legally Blonde" proved that there was so much more to legal screen stories than deep character debates and grim procedural details. The peppy film showed that a woman scorned can become a Harvard ace, even if armed only with a Fashion Merchandising degree, a cute pooch, and a closet full of pink. Audiences did the bend and snap en masse to see Elle Woods conquer the Socratic method and put her doubters to shame, and the film's sequel, "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde," made a nice mint at the box office as well.

Reese Witherspoon announced in 2018 that she would be slipping back into her sequin bikini for "Legally Blonde 3," with some of the original creative team and Mindy Kaling on board, and the movie is slated to premiere on May 20, 2022, according to Deadline. So, to celebrate the next phase of Elle Woods' blonde ambition tour, here's a look at what the original cast of "Legally Blonde" has been up to since taking over Harvard Law.

Much like her character in "Legally Blonde," Reese Witherspoon has been a beacon of determination and success in Hollywood. While she might have become a rom-com regular shortly after the film's release, she also managed to wow the film world with her depiction of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," earning an Academy Award for her portrayal of the real-life musician. 

When her role options no longer satisfied the actress, she started taking matters into her own hands and producing films and television series that offered her (and other women) meatier screen moments. She was celebrated for her starring role in the adaptation of "Wild," even earning another trip to the Oscars for it, and she was a driving force behind the ultra-successful thriller "Gone Girl." Meanwhile, her work in "Big Little Lies," "Little Fires Everywhere," and "The Morning Show" have also proven her mettle on the small screen. Thanks to her voracious appetite for books, Witherspoon has an entire library of stories she intends to see on the big screen, so her Hollywood hot streak is nowhere near its end.

Although he was a heartthrob in the "Legally Blonde" movies and a few other films, Luke Wilson, who played Emmett in the legal romcom, has never quite become a regular leading man in movies. He did enjoy top billing in films like "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" and "Idiocracy," but much of his filmography has been filled in with independent movies and supporting roles that feature him as a likable and relatable nice-guy type. However, he did enjoy a recurring role in the hit HBO series "Enlightened," and he has made a few headlines for his real-life heroism along the way as well, pulling a woman out of a smoking car in 2018. 

Wilson has admitted that part of the reason he's not an A-lister, despite having a recognizable name and face and some respectable work under his belt, is that he hasn't been gunning for the top quite like his peers. "You can see how people plan a career, which I never really did," he admitted to Backstage. Still, he's had no trouble keeping the lights on and is pleased with his career. "I love being an actor who works, that's what makes me happy," he told Canada's The Star. 

Notably in 2020, Wilson took on the superhero genre by playing character Pat Dugan in The CW's "Stargirl."

Vivian Kensington is just one of Selma Blair's most memorable roles from the turn of the millennium (count her roles in "Cruel Intentions" and "The Sweetest Thing" among her others), but her career started to slow down soon after. Thanks to some personal setbacks, she had some trouble reclaiming the wholesome image that informed so many of her prior roles. After starring with Charlie Sheen in TV's "Anger Management," for example, she was let go after engaging in a dispute with the actor over his work ethic, and it took several years for her to return to the small screen with a very small role in "The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story." In 2016, the actress had to publicly apologize after she was removed from an airplane and carted away on a stretcher following an outburst on her flight. 

Later, however, Blair became something of a figure of the #MeToo movement, as she revealed she was willing to risk everything to expose the director who'd allegedly sexually assaulted her, and her screen career started to look up again after she nabbed a central role in Netflix's sci-fi series "Another Life."

In 2018, she revealed that she'd been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. "I have had symptoms for years but was never taken seriously until I fell down in front of [a doctor] trying to sort out what I thought was a pinched nerve," she shared in an Instagram post.

He might not have been "Legally Blonde" fans' favorite guy after delivering such a convincing performance as the selfish jerk Warner, but Matthew Davis has managed to win over a lot of audiences in the years since thanks to his TV role as Alaric Saltzman. The character was introduced in the first season of "The Vampire Diaries" and has been a regular mainstay of television's vampire drama scene ever since, with Davis reprising the role in the series' spin-off "The Originals" and its follow-up "Legacies." Outside of that role, however, he has had some trouble getting his standalone small-screen vehicles into gear. His 2013 series "Cult" was canceled after a single season, and the 2017 ABC drama "Las Reinas," which would've featured Davis as a main player, was not ordered to series by the network. It's a good thing there's still a lot of vampire-slaying to do for the actor.

Shortly before she became everyone's favorite beautician Paulette in "Legally Blonde," Jennifer Coolidge helped bring the term "MILF" into the mainstream as Stifler's mom in "American Pie." She went on to continue that role in the film's sequels but found that she was being typecast as the buxom blonde in movies. She told IndieWire, "I would say 90 percent of the scripts that show up on my door are women who have had lots of plastic surgery that are married to rich men — sort of a trophy wife."

She added, "Some women really do get it all. For me, it is the same thing that happens over and over. I should change that and maybe write my own thing." For what it's worth, the television side of the industry had a little more to offer her, with roles in shows like "Joey," "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," "Gravity Falls," and "2 Broke Girls."

Before "Legally Blonde" featured him as the despicable Professor Callahan, Victor Garber was best known for his work in films like "The First Wives Club" and "Titanic," but he has since carved out a successful career in television. He has enjoyed recurring roles on a bevy of series, including "Web Therapy," "Legends of Tomorrow," "The Orville," and Showtime's "Power." He earned three Emmy nominations for his "Alias" role and was even recognized for his guest stint on "Will & Grace." 

Despite his prolificacy in TV, though, Garber has still been part of prestigious films like "Argo" and "Sicario," and he has been busy on the Broadway circuit as well, starring in the 2018 revival of "Hello, Dolly!" to much fanfare. He even made time to appear in the 2020 holiday movie "Happiest Season." Of his career's variety, he told Time, "Really what interests me is the material, and finding something I think would be fun to do. I make my choices based on that."

By the time she became the spicy Professor Stromwell in "Legally Blonde," Holland Taylor was already decades into her career. However, the bulk of her many Primetime Emmy nominations would come afterwards, as a result of her long stint on CBS's "Two and a Half Men." Despite starring on the series for more than a decade, however, the actress claims she doesn't like to be in one place for too long, career-wise. As she told the Times Colonist, "I think variety and change and mixing things up is essential for me because I have a kind of mild ADD and I jump from thing to thing." 

She's since gone on to star on "Mr. Mercedes" and "Hollywood," but, true to her word, she has mixed things up a bit over the years, having crafted a political play inspired by one of her heroes' death. Her name has also made headlines a great deal thanks to her relationship with fellow TV star Sarah Paulson. 

Like many of her fellow "Legally Blonde" alums, Ali Larter turned to television after appearing in the film as exercise guru-turned-murder suspect Brooke Taylor Windham. After reprising her role as Clear Rivers in "Final Destination 2," a send-off to her teen drama days, she starred in multiple roles for the hit NBC series "Heroes." She also starred in the series "Legends," "Pitch," and "The Rookie," while picking up various film roles, including a part in "Obsessed," which earned her a Razzie nomination. 

After becoming a mother, she found that working on a small-screen set was simply more accommodating to her new lifestyle, telling Philadelphia Style, "When I'm there, I'm there and I'm present. But as a working mom, I arrive on time, and the second I wrap I am out of my trailer and on my way home to Teddy." 

Although she is still a working actress, Larter has found a new calling as a cooking aficionado. She channeled her enthusiasm for entertaining guests at home into a cookbook titled "Kitchen Revelry: A Year of Festive Menus from My Home to Yours," as well as a lifestyle website, though she hasn't posted a new blog post on it since 2019.

Jessica Cauffiel was pitch perfect as the goofy sorority girl Margot in "Legally Blonde," but she hasn't had much luck in the entertainment business since her role in the iconic film, despite some early success. After "Legally Blonde," the actress scored small roles in films like "Stuck on You" and "White Chicks" and enjoyed brief recurring roles in series like "The Drew Carey Show" and "My Name Is Earl." Before long, however, her filmography took a backseat when she took on an entirely new role as a mom. As she has shared in some of her Instagram posts, being a parent has become her biggest priority. 

However, Cauffiel, who's remained close to co-star Alanna Ubach, has teased a return to the realm of comedy, and has confirmed her plans to return for "Legally Blonde 3." So, prepare to see her break out the old halter tops and spray tan sooner rather than later.

She might have been a little bit ditzy on screen as Serena in "Legally Blonde," but Alanna Ubach has been utterly savvy about carving out a successful career since the film's release. Between earning guest roles on prestigious TV shows like "The West Wing" and "Friday Night Lights," stealing scenes in films like "Waiting..." and "Bad Teacher," and performing on soundtracks like the one for "Coco," she has kept herself very busy over the years. Ubach has been especially successful on the small-screen side with recurring roles on several series, including "Men of a Certain Age," "Hung," "Dietland," "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce," "Euphoria," and "Filthy Rich."

Like Cauffiel, she is also "so jazzed" about returning to "Legally Blonde 3" and has even pitched a few ideas for the future of her character to TV Insider, suggesting, "Serena was quite the athlete/Laker girl. Maybe she cut an album and is now a judge on 'American Idol'? Divorced Joseph Pilates' great-great-grandson? Engaged to Jack LaLanne's great-grandson?" Hey, anything can happen in La La Land.

After she appeared in the jaw-dropping courtroom scene as the two-faced heiress Chutney in "Legally Blonde," Linda Cardellini's career really started kicking into hyperdrive. She starred as Velma in the live-action "Scooby Doo" films, earned a small but compelling role in "Brokeback Mountain," and became a regular star of "ER." Things haven't slowed down for her since, as she continued on the TV drama scene with roles on "Mad Men" (which earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination) and "Bloodline," and she's also enjoyed a bounty of voice work in shows like "Sanjay and Craig" and "Robot Chicken." She also enjoyed the renewed popularity of the now-cult favorite "Freaks and Geeks" and even got to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Avengers: Endgame." She also stars opposite Christina Applegate in Netflix's "Dead to Me."

If her resume seems a bit scattered, that's because Cardellini likes to change things up pretty regularly. She told Pretty52, "I tried to take as many different turns as I could to make it interesting for myself and hopefully for everybody watching." Hey, as long as she's not framing people in court, everything's a-okay.

It's hard to imagine anyone pulling off the creepy but kind classmate David Kidney quite as well as Oz Perkins, who happens to be the son of "Psycho" star Anthony Perkins. But unfortunately for Perkins, roles like that of Kidney are few and far between. So, after continuing to earn bit parts in films like "Not Another Teen Movie," "Dead & Breakfast," and "Star Trek," the actor started hatching his own projects as a writer-director. His first script was for 2010's "Removal," which he starred in, and he later co-wrote "Cold Comes the Night," which starred Bryan Cranston. He quickly began to hit his stride with thrillers like "The Blackcoat's Daughter" and "I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House." He now goes by his given name of Osgood Perkins and doesn't seem to be slowing down on his new career any time soon, as he directed the 2020 horror film Gretel & Hansel.

She may have only appeared briefly as the activist student Enid in "Legally Blonde," but Meredith Scott Lynn's career has hardly been a flash in the pan. She has also been a fixture of the TV scene, with guest roles in shows like "Roswell," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," and "American Horror Story: Murder House." She also starred in the TV movie "Menendez: Blood Brothers," and her most consistent work was her long-lasting role as Anne Milbauer in "Days of Our Lives." 

Acting isn't her only interest, however. In 2017, Lynn committed her time to traveling around the United States to champion education on issues like gun violence and healthcare as the founder and CEO of Write Brain Books. As she told Business View Magazine, the work has been very fulfilling to her when acting has been slow. "For an actor, unless you have a full-time gig, you need to create your days. Make a meaningful life," she explained. "That entrepreneurial spirit of 'keep going, keep creating, stay busy and be of service' is how I stayed happy and productive when the acting jobs were few and far between."

He might not have been given a name beyond "UPS Guy" in the "Legally Blonde" films, but actor Bruce Thomas has been steadily working to make one for himself in real life. The actor went on to enjoy guest roles in television series like "Weeds," "CSI: Miami," "Star Trek: Enterprise," "Desperate Housewives," "Kyle XY," "Faking It," and "NCIS." He still pops up in movies from time to time — like 2011's "Hall Pass" — but more regularly, he can be heard voicing characters for video games like "Green Lantern: Emerald Nights," "Gears of War: Judgment," "Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII," and "Fallout 4," to name a few. On top of that, he also does the motion capture work for the Master Chief character in the "Halo" video game franchise, so even if you haven't seen him lately, you've probably heard or even played as him at some point or another.

It probably wasn't too much of a stretch for Raquel Welch to become the fancy Mrs. Windham Vandermark in "Legally Blonde" because the lady is absolutely a living legend. She was already several decades into her career before she donned her stunning wardrobe for the film, but she continued steadily working for years afterwards. She's appeared in shows like "American Family," "Welcome to the Captain," and "Date My Dad," along with films like "House of Versace" and "How to Be a Latin Lover." 

Even in her 70s, the actress had no plans of slowing down or escaping her image as a sexpot. The actress, who turned 80 in 2020, told Express in 2018, "It is nice to be noticed. I think it is much better than not being noticed." She added, "I'm not fussy and don't go to great lengths to try to preserve what I have. As long as I still look like Raquel Welch, I'm happy. As long as people are still interested in me, then I'll carry on working."