Amazon's Legally Blonde prequel series Elle became the most-viewed show on Prime Video in its first week of release, the studio has reported. The show, which is already renewed for a second season, centers on Elle Woods as a high schooler in 1995, before she heads to Harvard Law School.
One of the most talked-about elements of the first season involves the late actor James Van Der Beek, who played school superintendent and mayoral candidate Dean Wilson. Van Der Beek, whose name became synonymous with the millennial teen drama Dawson's Creek, joined the show as a villain whose scheme is ultimately exposed by Elle herself.
According to Variety, showrunners Laura Kittrell and Caroline Dries spoke about Van Der Beek's involvement in a Zoom interview conducted on the eve of the show's July 1 debut. The series had already shot its second season before the first premiered, giving the creative team an unusual challenge in navigating press coverage without revealing spoilers.
"We were so flattered that he wanted to do this show to begin with," Dries said of Van Der Beek. "Laura and I are such big fans of his, so just getting to work with someone who was a hero when I was growing up was a treat. And getting to watch him take a character and elevate it was so exciting as a writer."
Executive producer Jason Moore had worked with Van Der Beek on four episodes of Dawson's Creek. "When his name was up on the audition, it was great. Since he turns out to be a bad guy, I was like 'What fun for him,'" Moore said.
The series follows newcomer Lexi Minetree as a teenage Elle Woods, whose family moves unexpectedly from Bel-Air to Seattle after her plastic surgeon father botches a procedure. The first season's eight episodes are each titled with quotes from the original 2001 Reese Witherspoon film, such as "Whoever Said Orange Is The New Pink Was Seriously Disturbed."
Kittrell, who created the show, described the weeks leading up to the premiere as a chaotic blur, including for the cast. "The two weeks leading up to the premiere, all our cast were in a panic, like, 'Can we watch Season 1 again? We have no memory of what's new, what's old, what's a spoiler, what's not,'" she said.
Amazon's early renewal of the series ahead of its premiere reflected the studio's confidence in the property. That confidence appears to have been rewarded. Season 2 was already in the can before Season 1 aired, meaning audiences will not have long to wait for what comes next.
