In The Scenario, reporter Kirbie Johnson takes readers behind the scenes of the buzziest movies and TV shows to reveal how the best wigs, special-effects makeup, and more are created. For this edition, Johnson interviewed makeup designer Jennifer Powell and hair designer Florencia Anahi, the duo behind Prime Video’s much-anticipated Legally Blonde prequel, Elle, to find how they went about transforming actress Lexi Minetree into the high-school version of everyone’s favorite Harvard law grad.
In Elle, the prequel series to the 2001 film Legally Blonde, we learn how (and where) Elle Woods—the chipper, buttery blonde who conquered law school—grew up. The Bel-Air teen’s dreamy Los Angeles lifestyle gets interrupted with a major blow to her junior year plans: her dad, a notable plastic surgeon, botches someone’s nose and her family must move to a place known for not being sunny (or pink for that matter): Seattle.
The prequel also shows us that Elle’s dedication to beauty—her bright blonde hair, rosy-pink makeup, and perfectly-manicured nails—began long before joining Delta Nu. In fact, for both makeup designer Jennifer Powell and hair designer Florencia Anahi, it was important there was a throughline from the high-school version of Elle, played by Lexi Minetree, and the version we see in Legally Blonde, played by Reese Witherspoon (who was executive producer for the Prime Video series). Images of Witherspoon lined the hair and makeup trailer walls as inspiration, while Minetree spent hours in the salon chair to achieve the perfect blonde. Below, Powell and Anahi share how they went about imagining Elle’s live before law school—and the products and techniques that went into Minetree’s mid-nineties transformation.
Elle’s mom, Eva, is the driving inspiration for her look.
Unlike many coming-of-age series, Eva (played by June Diane Raphael) is revered by her daughter. Elle (played by Lexi Minetree) looks up to her mother and even finds her cool, emulating aspects of her look and taking inspiration from others. “This is a young girl who idolizes her mom,” says Powell. “Elle and her mom have a close relationship, they’re both into beauty. It’s not all that they are, but it’s definitely not a part of them that they feel they have to ignore or have to like squash down.”
One way Elle mimics Eva is they both have French manicures with square tips, although Elle’s are shorter than her mom’s. While in hair and makeup, Minetree received gel fills every two weeks from nail artist Tony Tran.