Characters / Legally Blonde

Elle

Elle Woods

Played by: Reese Witherspoon (movie), Laura Bell Bundy (original Broadway cast)

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• All the Other Reindeer: Elle is constantly underestimated and looked down on by her Harvard Law peers as a Dumb Blonde Valley Girl stereotype. She proves them wrong in the end.
• Beware the Nice Ones: The Boutique Saleswoman, Professor Callahan, and Warner Huntington III in the first film — and Congresswoman Victoria Rudd in the second film — all find out why it's never a good idea to verbally stab Elle in the back, lie to her, or betray her trust the hard way.
• Blithe Spirit: She got her degree in Fashion Merchandising, dresses in hot pink, and basically ignores most common elements of courtroom decorum. However, she does still get everything to fall into place regardless, even managing to use The Perry Mason Method to catch a murderer.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Does this almost literally at one point. She's a ditzy, bubbly, and inexperienced student, but she is a good lawyer, and catches on quickly in the field — and her unusual background makes her capable of coming up ideas that her fellow (more traditional) law students would never jump to.
• Cheery Pink: Elle's signature color. Even as she becomes more enmeshed in law school, she never gives up her pink wardrobe, or her optimism.
• Class Princess: President of the hottest sorority, homecoming queen, and in possession of heart and head of gold, Elle Woods had it made at UCLA. Sadly, she wasn't as popular at law school as she was at UCLA; however, she still carried her confidence and willingness to help those in need with her to Harvard and into court.
• Determinator: Elle does everything in her power to make sure that she and Warner can get back together. Once she realizes that's impossible, she does everything in her power to succeed in law for herself instead.
• Ditzy Genius: Elle scores 179 out of a possible 180 on the LSAT, implying she can be quite book smart when she wants to be.
• Dumb Blonde: Inverted. Elle may seem like a bubbly dumb blonde, but she proves to everyone at Harvard Law School that she's just as smart as the rest of her peers.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Elle is homecoming queen, president of Delta Nu, and girlfriend to pre-law student Warner Huntington III. All of this changes when she gets to Harvard.
• Fish out of Water: Elle first arrives at Harvard dressed in hot pink surrounded by the muted earth tones of everybody else, cementing that even Elle herself feels out of place there.
• Flanderization: Elle's super effeminate side comes up more often in the sequel, after having nearly gotten rid of it in the first movie.
• Genki Girl: She's cheerful and bubbly throughout most of the movie, except during a few moments — such as when Warner breaks up with her, and after Callahan's attempt to seduce her, followed by Vivian accusing her of sleeping her way through grades.
• Good Is Not Soft: As sweet and kind as she is, she's also a seasoned law student/lawyer who can be absolutely brutal in the courtroom/senate to get to the truth.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: For all that she can be a bit tactless at times, Elle is truly caring, noble, and sweet. Despite her shallow exterior, she has a good heart. She also initially comes across as the naïve innocent, when compared with all the other law students.
• The Heart: Part of her Fish out of Water character and probably her greatest strength is her understanding of emotions and the human condition in contrast to the much more cynical and logical approach of the rest of Harvard. From major moments like establishing Brooke's innocence (and dismantling the defense's alibi) when everybody else wanted her to take a plea to minor moments such as helping David secure a date by pretending to be a Woman Scorned ex-girlfriend to invoke All Girls Want Bad Boys in the women he's talking to, most of Elle's awesome moments in the story come less from knowing the law and more from knowing people.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Light Feminine to Vivian's Dark Feminine. Elle has a bright and colorful style of clothing, along with a cordial personality.
• Meaningful Name: "Elle" can be a nickname for longer names, but on its own its meaning is just "girl" — which is how most people see Elle, as just a ditzy blonde girl with no other traits.
• Ms. Fanservice: Not too much, but Elle certainly isn't afraid to strut around in bikini tops and Playboy Bunny attire.
• Nice Girl: She's a cheerful and bubbly young woman who is always looking out for other people.
• Pink Means Feminine: This is the preferred color of Elle's outfits, and a number of her things as well, including her resume. When she and Emmett get married, her wedding dress is pink instead of white. Her house in L.A., as seen in the spin-off, is apparently also very pink.
• Sex Goddess: Implied from her history with Warner.
  Elle: Oh Warner, do you remember when we spent those four amazing hours in the hot tub together after winter formal?
  Warner: Uhh, ye... no.
  Elle: This is so much better than that! Excuse me, I have some shopping to do!
  Vivian: ...four hours?
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Elle finally rejects Warner after seeing what a "bonehead" he is. She also rejects Callahan's creepy advances. She ties the knot with Emmett, who is both smart and respectful to her.
• Smarter Than You Look: Elle can come across as a Dumb Blonde, but her exemplary LSAT score — and the fact that she's attending UCLA (it's UCLA in the musical, at least) and maintaining a 4.0 GPA (majoring in Fashion Merchandising) — prove she's pretty damn intelligent. She ends up as valedictorian of her class at Harvard Law School, so she's clearly a very good student once she puts her mind to it and starts working hard. (Also proven when Elle shops for a dress to wear at the supposed-proposal dinner with Warner; the saleswoman thinks Elle is this and tries to sell an outdated outfit for full price by claiming it's new... but Elle instantly knows it's not new and on sale, and (in the musical) promptly delivers a takedown of every single one of the supposed selling points.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Not only does it mean that everyone dismisses her on sight, but she's also sexually harassed by Callahan, who implies part of the reason he hired her in the first place was so that he'd have an opportunity to do so.
  Elle: All people see when they look at me is blonde hair and big boobs. No one's ever going to take me seriously.
• Spoiled Sweet: She comes from a family so affluent that she could've spent her entire life being part of the Idle Rich, but she's also unfailingly kind and uses her position to help others. Her being of the upper-crust does unfortunately lead to her peers initially dismissing her as just another vapid rich girl.
• Stalker with a Crush: Elle gives up everything she enjoys to study for the LSAT, to get into Harvard Law School, a school (and career) she never had any prior interest in, just to follow a guy that dumped her. Finding out that he's engaged to another woman does not deter her attempt to win him back — in fact, it just encourages her to try harder.

Vivian

Vivian Kensington

Played by: Selma Blair (movie), Kate Shindle (original Broadway cast)

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• Academic Alpha Bitch: At first, anyways. She tries to make Elle look bad in front of their professor, and she has no problem flaunting the fact that she is currently engaged to Warner, Elle's entire reason for being there.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the movie, she catches Callahan's advances on Elle without context and comes to the conclusion that Elle is sleeping her way to the top. In the musical, she instead sees Callahan kiss Elle without consent and be promptly slapped by her for it, allowing her to be the one to give Elle the pep talk she needs to go back to the case (the one who sees it without context is instead Warner, who walks away before Elle slaps Callahan).
• Adaptation Name Change: In some productions of the musical, her name is spelled Vivienne instead.
• Brainy Brunette: She has brown hair and is an intelligent law student; it's implied that this is part of the reason Warner is engaged to her, rather than Elle, who he thinks is a Dumb Blonde.
• Chair Reveal: Only in the musical. When Elle confesses to Paulette that she's planning to go back to California, because the only thing anyone's ever seen her as is a dumb blonde, Vivian reveals herself from underneath a hair dryer in the salon to prove Elle wrong.
  Vivian: That's not what I see.
  Elle: Vivian?!
  Vivian: Maybe Warner saw a blonde who was sleeping her way to the top, but all I see is a woman who doesn't have to.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Despite the first movie ending with her and Elle becoming best friends, she's completely absent from the second movie.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She's always flashing her engagement ring, and placing a supportive, protecting arm on Warner's shoulder... in front of Elle, of course.
• Deadpan Snarker: "Aren't there girls going wild somewhere without you?"
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Warms up to Elle over the course of the movie, and ends up her best friend by the end. In the musical, the change is more dramatic, with Vivian being the one to convince Elle not to leave Harvard.
• Heel–Face Turn: Although she begins her time at Harvard being outright antagonistic with Elle, in the musical she's the one who convinces Elle not to quit law and leave Harvard, a drastic turnaround from her initial attitude.
• Licked by the Dog: Immediately after she compliments Elle on her integrity regarding Brooke and her alibi, Bruiser begins to affectionately lick Vivian's hand, which Vivian reciprocates by treating him kindly, something Elle is quick to pick up on.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Dark Feminine to Elle's Light Feminine. Vivian has a very cold and dark color palette, along with an icy demeanor (initially).
• My God, What Have I Done?: Her reaction after accusing Elle of seducing Callahan — only to discover the truth: Callahan was hitting on Elle, leading Elle to quit the firm and law in general.
• You, Get Me Coffee: Callahan essentially makes her his coffee gofer, much to her chagrin.

Emmett

Emmett Richmond

Played by: Luke Wilson (movie), Christian Borle (original Broadway cast)

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• Adaptation Name Change: In the musical, his name is changed from Emmett Richmond to Emmett Forrest (likely to give him a Couple Theme Naming with Elle Woods).
• Adaptational Backstory Change: The musical gives him a fleshed-out backstory in "Chip on my Shoulder", where he explains his work ethic comes from living in the slums as a kid with his mom and a string of her deadbeat boyfriends, and he wants to be successful enough to get his mom a better place to live.
• Beware the Nice Ones: People perceive him as a nice, unassuming guy and he takes full advantage of this to trick Enrique into admitting to lying on the stand.
• Deadpan Snarker: In the musical, at least. While the rest of the cast hams it up, he's a lot calmer and quieter, and has a few great one-liners.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Does this when he and Elle wait in line at the campus bookstore. He has the privilege of waiting right behind her when she's in her Playboy Bunny costume, and notably looks at her rear with an amused smile. In the musical, Elle does the same when he changes during a makeover, something he's annoyed by.
• Foil:
  • Emmett and Warner could not be more different from one another:
    • Warner seems nice on the surface, but he's a superficial, sexist, and ultimately egotistical dweeb who couldn't recognize talent if it bit him in the butt.
    • Emmett is a genuinely good guy who doesn't objectify Elle and is disgusted with Callahan for doing so. Instead of looking down on her like Warner, he actually tries to offer her advice about how to be a law student.
    • Warner also had no faith in Elle's abilities to survive in law school, whereas Emmett never loses faith in Elle, trusting her instincts and conclusions.
  • The same is true for Emmett and Elle, at least at first: she comes from a very privileged background, decided to go to Harvard on a whim, her father pays her tuition in full, and while she's incredibly smart she doesn't take studying seriously at first. By contrast, Emmett had a deprived childhood, had to work two jobs on top of law school, and is so driven by his goal of succeeding and earning enough money to buy his mother a nicer place to live that he jokingly claims he hasn't even slept in years.
• Momma's Boy: A positive version, in the musical.
  Emmett: But I know it'll all be worthwhile
  When I win my first lucrative trial
  And buy my Mom that great big house out on the cape
  Elle: Oh, that's so sweet!
• Nice Guy: One of the first people not to treat Elle like a joke, he gives her advice after her disastrous first class.
• Real Men Don't Cry: Subverted. He confesses to Elle that Professor Stromwell made him cry once, although he waited until he got to his room to do it.
• Relationship Upgrade: Following the Time Skip, he's been dating Elle for two years and plans to propose to her.

Warner

Warner Huntington III

Played by: Matthew Davis (movie), Richard H Blake (original Broadway cast)

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• Adaptational Nice Guy: Zigzagged; in the musical, he's less intentionally mean to Elle and more of the Innocently Insensitive type, and unlike the movie, he reconciles with Elle in the end (granted without getting back together with her). However, Vivienne's role of briefly believing that Elle was sleeping with Callahan to get ahead is given to Warner instead.
• Better as Friends: Ultimately how his relationship with Elle turns out in the musical; he tries to propose to her after Vivienne breaks up with him, but Elle declines while also thanking him for more or less being the inciting incident for her journey of self-discovery.
• Brainless Beauty: Despite seeing Elle as such, this trope applies more to him. In the musical, he ultimately decides that law school isn't for him and instead drops out to become a model.
• Fair-Weather Ex: He dumps Elle as he feels he needs a more serious wife to make his political career look good, hence him dating Vivian. When Elle proves to be a smart, capable lawyer-in-the-making he tries to get back with Elle but by that point she's moved on and doesn't love him anymore calling him out a "complete bonehead".
• Hypocrite: Most of the things Warner assumes about Elle are traits he has. His insistence that Elle isn't smart enough to hack the classes is particularly damning when she got into Harvard on her own merit, and he had to call his father to get in after he got waitlisted.
• Informed Flaw: It's not that he didn't get what was coming to him, but the narrative from the movie has you thinking he's incompetent. The fact he got wait-listed to Harvard and managed to graduate (granted with a mediocre standing) shows he's not hopeless, just way in over his head thinking he can live up to his family's expectations for him.
• Irony: Warner dumps Elle because he sees her as an idiot that he can't be associated with if he wants to succeed. Cut to the end, and Elle is graduating valedictorian of the class, while Warner graduates without honors or any prospects (or a fiancée/future wife since he's been dumped by Vivian as well). (In the musical, he's instead dropped out of Harvard to pursue a modeling career.)
• Jerkass: Downplayed — Warner isn't so much callous or condescending, but he is flippantly insensitive and has very superficial views. He dumps Elle while claiming "If I'm going to be a politician, I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn," and later admits that he doesn't think she's capable of doing anything besides looking pretty. When Elle refuses to reveal Brooke's alibi, he encourages her to forget about Brooke and look out for herself, which even disgusts his fiancée, Vivian.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Despite his flaws, his skepticism of Elle in Harvard is valid; she did join solely to try to get back with him, without any evidence that she understood or appreciated law as much as he did, which Elle casually admits. His fatal mistake, however, is thinking that Elle's not smart enough and therefore incapable of learning.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Ends up getting shot down by Elle and dumped by Vivian, and even though he manages to graduate, he doesn't get any honors, or any job offers.
  • In the musical, he becomes a slightly better person in the end; however, instead of graduating from Harvard, he drops out and pursues a modeling career.
• Pet the Dog: He insists on driving Elle back to the sorority house after breaking up with her, rather than making her walk home in high heels. Later, when Elle wants to join their study group and Vivian says they have enough people, Warner says they can make room for one more.

Paulette

Paulette Bonafonté

Played by: Jennifer Coolidge (movie), Orfeh (original Broadway cast)

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• Adaptation Personality Change: The producers admitted the meek Shrinking Violet version of the character in the movie wouldn't really translate well onto the stage where she has to emote to the back rows, so the musical's version of Paulette (especially as played by Orfeh) has Paulette's insecurity manifest as being more loudly neutoric and eccentric.
• Babies Ever After: The epilogue of the first film reveals that she married the express delivery guy she had a crush on, and they were expecting their first child — a girl whom they named Elle. The musical adds two additional children.
• Broken Bird: Her first husband (or, in the musical, the man she lived with for ten years because she was in love) left her for someone else and took her home and beloved dog, destroying her self-esteem in the process.
• The Confidant: She's Elle's first real friend while in law school.
• Cool Big Sis: Becomes one to Elle shortly after they meet.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments.
  Elle: [Warner] is dating an evil preppy!
  Paulette: What does she got that you don't got, three boobs?
  Elle: She's serious.
  Paulette: Seriously, does she have three boobs?
• I Am Not Pretty: Both the movie and musical versions of the character are far from ugly, but Paulette tends to disparage her own qualities and make comments about how Elle should have so much more luck with guys than she does. Justified, since her ex is verbally abusive and does seem to have significantly damaged her self-esteem. Once she gets a confidence boost in the "Bend and Snap" scene, she's a full-on Dude Magnet.
• Happily Married: She marries the mailman she fell in love with at the end.
• Suddenly Shouting: A borderline Running Gag in the musical, where she has a tendency to yell at random.
  Paulette: Isn't that relaxing? It's called "CELTIC MOODS"!
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: She's on both the giving and receiving end of this trope, giving it to Elle and getting it from Elle and, in the musical, Emmett and the Greek Chorus.

Callahan

Professor Callahan

Played by: Victor Garber (movie), Michael Rupert (original Broadway cast)

Dubbed by: Patrick Floersheim (European French)

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• Amoral Attorney: He makes no secret that he thinks Brooke is guilty, despite the fact that he's supposed to be defending her, and later turns out to sexually harass his interns. His Villain Song "Blood In The Water" in the musical is more or less an instruction manual on how to be one of these — he tells his students the only way to succeed in law is to ruthlessly take any and all advantages they can find... regardless of how amoral said advantages may be.
• Broken Pedestal: As Callahan praises Elle for her hard work, Elle gains confidence in herself and her work and looks up to Callahan until he reveals his true motives and tries to hit on her. This makes Elle question everything he's taught her and insult him before leaving.
• Cool Teacher: Acts as one of these initially, helping guide Elle through the tougher points of law school. At least... up until he hits on Elle, revealing he just wanted to sleep with her the whole time.
• Dirty Old Man: He sexually harasses Elle, and reveals to her that the only reason he was nice to her was because she was pretty.
• Faux Affably Evil: He turns on the charm, and keeps up a cheerfully sarcastic demeanor even while teaching his students how to be Amoral Attorneys, in the musical.
• Hate Sink: While his slimeball attitude is more subtle in the film until he sexually harasses Elle, the musical establishes him right off the bat as a callous, despicable person, encouraging his students to exploit vulnerable people and throwing a homophobic comment towards Enid just to make fun of her for getting offended.
• I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: This is his excuse for hitting on Elle. She's a pretty woman, therefore he has to hit on her.
• Jerkass: Shows his true colors when he tries to come onto Elle. He was also dismissive towards Vivian, who eventually realizes how much of a sleaze he is after finding out he sexually harassed Elle.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While he is revealed to be an unpleasant man, he had a point when pointing out that Elle stereotyping Enrique doesn’t really mean anything in the trial. Not unless they were able to prove it to the jury that he was gay, meaning he perjured his story about having an affair with Brooke.
• Pet the Dog: He does genuinely seem impressed by Elle's motivation and her unorthodox interpretation of the law, although he has much darker motivations for hiring her as an intern than he initially lets on.
• Slimeball: He's basically the living embodiment of the slimy stereotype of a lawyer; heck, his Villain Song in the musical is basically "How To Be A Slimeball 101".
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • He's nowhere to be seen after Brooke's trial; it's likely he was fired under pressure from the students over what he did to Elle. A few deleted scenes on the special DVD show that he was sentenced to prison, due to raping one of his female students and interns.
  • In the musical, Callahan ran for governor — but was defeated, "of course" — and due to his attempt to sexually assault Elle (and presumably other female interns in the past), his wife divorced him, hiring Emmett to represent her in the divorce.

Stromwell

Professor Elspeth Stromwell

Played by: Holland Taylor (movie)

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• Adapted Out: Absent from the musical, with Callahan taking her classes with Elle, and Vivian taking over her later role of rejuvenating Elle's spirits.
• Chair Reveal: At the salon, when Elle is ready to quit law school, Stromwell turns her chair around and approaches Elle with one line that gets her out of her funk. In the musical, this is done by Vivian instead.
  Stromwell: If you're going to let one stupid prick ruin your life, you're not the girl I thought you were.
• Composite Character: In the musical, with both Vivian and Callahan (making her a bit of a Decomposite Character too); Callahan takes her position as the main Stern Teacher while Vivian takes her role as the one who gives Elle a much needed pep talk after Callahan sexually harasses her.
• Cool Teacher: Turns out to be one of these. She's just really tough.
• Hidden Depths: Turns out she enjoys going to the salon like her student Elle.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Is appropriately annoyed when a law student who sits in the front admits that she hasn't done the reading and isn't prepared for class at all.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may seem kind of austere and cold, but she only does it because she wants to produce good lawyers. She even gives Elle a pep talk when Callahan hits on Elle and causes her to come close to quitting.
• Stern Teacher: She's strict and intimidating most of the time, but that doesn't mean that she isn't a Cool Teacher.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Stromwell gives one to Elle, when Elle's about to quit after Callahan came onto her.
  Stromwell: If you're going to let one stupid prick ruin your life, you're not the girl I thought you were.

Brooke

Brooke Taylor Windham

Played by: Ali Larter (movie), Nikki Snelson (original Broadway cast)

• Adoptive Peer Parent: She and her stepdaughter Chutney are around the same age. It is because of this, Chutney hated Brooke enough to want to kill her.
• Age-Gap Romance: With her late husband.
• The Beard: A rare unwitting example to her pool boy, who claimed to be having an affair with her to hide his homosexuality. Brooke was not aware of this until he perjured himself on the stand at her trial.
• Big Secret: Refuses to say where she was at the time of the murder, despite the fact that she's leaving herself with no alibi. Since she made her fortune off of a fitness empire, having it made public that she was getting liposuction would discredit her to her customers and make her look like a fraud.
• Fitness Nut: Built her empire on this as an exercise video star, which is what makes her alibi for her husband's murder — that she was getting liposuction — so damning that she refuses to admit it, even if she'll go to jail.
• Gold Digger: The fact that she's a good-looking younger blonde married to an older millionaire makes her seem to be this. However, Callahan clarifies that she's got her own money, and she herself insists that he had... other assets of more interest to her.
• Not with Them for the Money: Despite everyone (except Elle) assuming Brooke married Mr. Windham for his money, she genuinely loved him.
• Happily Married: To her sixty-year-old husband — until he is killed, setting off the main story.
• Trophy Wife: She is assumed to be this, but she really did love her late husband.
• Whip of Dominance: Brooke's solo song "Whipped into Shape" has her wielding an actual whip (called Cardio Whip 5000) to illustrate how comically strict she is as a fitness instructor. In the lyrics, she also mentions how the whip can serve as a self-defense weapon against guys.
  You'll have him whipped into shape
  When you get grief from a guy
  Just work him over with this
  Til he starts to cry

Chutney

Chutney Windham

Played by Linda Cardellini

• Big Secret: Chutney murdered her father. However, this was an accident, what Chutney had intended was to actually kill Brooke, her stepmother who was the same age as her. She had hid in a room with a gun planning to shoot Brooke but then she heard someone enter the house and assumed it was Brooke. When the door to the room Chutney was in opened, Chutney panicked and realised she’d shot her father. She then figured to avoid prison and to ruin her stepmother’s life she claimed she saw Brooke standing over her dead father and that she was drenched in blood.
• Brainy Brunette: Chutney has a frizzy Brown perm and graduated Yale with a Business Major.
• Deadpan Snarker: In a deleted scene. "Uh, yeah. Because the bitch shot him."
• Disproportionate Retribution: Chutney is so disgusted by the fact that she and her new stepmother Brooke are the same age that Chutney tried to murder Brooke. But when she accidentally killed her father instead, she proceeded to frame Brooke for it.
• Misplaced Retribution: While Chutney being angry that she and her father's new wife are the same age is understandable, Chutney puts the blame entirely on Brooke for marrying her father, while not blaming her father for choosing to marry a woman the same age as his daughter.
• Villainous Breakdown: Has one when Elle's interrogation at the trial slowly starts to expose her ruse. By the time Elle really starts Pulling the Thread, Chutney desperately tries to deflect by pointing out that Brooke is her age (which quickly turns out to be the motive behind her murder) and eventually just tearfully blurts out "I didn't mean to shoot him! I THOUGHT IT WAS [BROOKE] WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR!"

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