Reese Witherspoon announces Elle Woods open casting call for ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel series
ABC
Reese Witherspoon is searching for a new Elle Woods for a prequel series to Legally Blonde.
On Wednesday, the actress, who starred in the iconic film franchise as Woods, shared an Instagram Reel announcing that the casting process is starting for the project titled Elle, and they are having an open casting call for the role of a young Woods.
“This is an open casting for the young Elle Woods when she was in high school,” Witherspoon said.
“Send your submissions to the link in my bio,” she added. “I cannot wait to see all the Elle Woods out there. This is going to be really fun.”
Witherspoon said that her company Hello Sunshine is partnering with Amazon on the casting search.
Prime Video announced the news of Elle during its upfront presentation in May.
The series will follow Woods during her high school years “as we learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film,” according to the streamer.
Artem Chigvintsev will not be criminally charged following his arrest for felony domestic violence on Aug. 29, the Napa County District Attorney’s Office announced in a press release Tuesday.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the decision not to charge the Dancing with the Stars pro “was made after a thorough review of the criminal investigation and careful evaluation of the evidence presented to the DA’s Office.”
“While we take every arrest seriously and stand firmly against domestic violence, we have an ethical obligation to only file charges when supported by the evidence,” Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley said in a statement included in the release.
It continued, “We are required to prove any and every criminal charge ‘beyond a reasonable doubt,'” adding, “If the available evidence doesn’t rise to this level of proof, then we cannot ethically file charges.”
The District Attorney’s Office said it “does not typically issue press releases when it declines to file charges against any given individual,” but “did so for this case due to the intense media interest it has received since Mr. Chigvintsev’s arrest.”
A representative for Artem told Good Morning America in a statement Tuesday, “Mr. Chigvintsev has maintained his innocence from the beginning. He is grateful that the district attorney accurately assessed what took place, and determined he should not be charged. He enjoys tremendous support from the community, and requests privacy for the pending divorce matter. He loves his son, wants the best possible for him, and looks forward to the next chapter in his life professionally and as a father.”
Artem was arrested for felony domestic violence on Aug. 29, just before 10 a.m., according to Napa County, California, jail records.
His wife, WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia, filed for divorce shortly afterward.
The couple married in August 2022 and share one child, 4-year-old son Matteo.
ABC News reached out to Garcia’s representative for comment but did not immediately hear back.
If you are affected by abuse and needing support, or know someone who is, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). You can also chat online at thehotline.org or online.rainn.org, respectively.
Brad Pitt and girlfriend Ines de Ramon made their red carpet debut together at the 2024 Venice Film Festival over the weekend.
The pair attended the premiere of Pitt’s new film Wolfs on Sunday, posing on the carpet together and wrapping their arms around each other.
Pitt wore a custom Louis Vuitton ensemble for the occasion that included a black, double-breasted tuxedo jacket and matching pants. De Ramon stunned in a white, one-shoulder gown, pairing the dress with a glittering gold clutch and matching gold heels.
The duo was joined on the carpet by Pitt’s co-star and fellow Wolfs producer George Clooney and his wife, international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.
Pitt and de Ramon have not confirmed their romance publicly. The Sunday sighting marks the pair’s first official red carpet appearance together, although they have attended other events together including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s annual gala, the British Grand Prix and the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
That said, the two did not pose for photos at those events.
ABC News has reached out to the pair’s representatives for comment.
Shailene Woodley stars in the new limited series adaptation of Lisa Taddeo’s New York Times bestselling nonfiction book, Three Women.
The show follows Woodley as Gia, a character loosely based on Taddeo, as she interviews three different women from across the United States, exploring their varied sexual and emotional experiences.
Woodley told ABC Audio that after she read Three Women, she felt Taddeo had written everything she “felt but didn’t know how to articulate.”
According to Woodley, crafting a character based on Taddeo was more than just collaborating with her.
“It wasn’t a collaboration as much as it felt like a connection and then a true desire to honor what our natural connection elicited,” Woodley said. “Gia is not Lisa, but Gia also isn’t me. It almost felt like she was the intersection of both of us.”
Taddeo wholeheartedly agreed, saying Woodley’s performance made her feel seen “in the most dynamic way.”
“Shailene’s performance made me feel seen without even, like, mimicking or mirroring me,” Taddeo said. “She’s one of the most talented actors out there, but she also has one of the warmest hearts.”
The show covers many serious topics ripe for discussion. So, what does Woodley hope viewers take from it?
“I hope that they walk away feeling a little less alone and maybe feeling like it isn’t weird or obscure to go through things that are very normal, everyday experiences that women have, like miscarriages or, like, having sex on your period or having body dysmorphia,” Woodley said. “I don’t know one woman who hasn’t been through one … if not all of those things. And I think it’s important that we take these situations that have become such taboo in our culture and really normalize them.”
