©Courtesy of IMDB

Reese Witherspoon is ready to pass the baton to a new Elle Woods. Lexi Minetree (“The Murdaugh Murders“) is set to lead the upcoming “Legally Blonde” prequel series, which is being co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.

According to reports from Deadline earlier this week, Minetree was among the candidates competing for the role that Witherspoon had previously played in the successful romantic comedy “Legally Blonde” (2001) and its sequel “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde” (2003).

Witherspoon announced the casting news on social media earlier today, “Allow me to introduce you to the new Elle Woods! After watching so many incredible auditions for the new Elle prequel series on @PrimeVideo, we finally found our Elle. And today, I got to break the news myself! Meet @leximinetree!”

In the video (below), Witherspoon is shown speaking with Minetree before telling her the exciting news. “We had to make a really hard decision the other day and we wanted to tell you in person because you’ve just worked really hard. And we just wanted to tell you that you don’t have to audition anymore because you got the part. You’re Elle Woods,” Witherspoon said.

https://www.instagram.com/reesewitherspoon/

Elle follows Elle Woods through high school and reveals the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we discovered and loved in the first Legally Blonde movie.

Creator Laura Kittrell (“High School“, “Insecure“) is co-showrunner and executive producer alongside Caroline Dries. Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Lauren Kisilevsky, and Marc Platt also serve as executive producers.

This will be the first lead TV role of Minetree’s career. She has previously appeared on shows like “Law & Order: SVU” and in TV movies like “The Murdaugh Murders,” “Crowdsource Murder,” and “The Paramedic Who Stalked Me.”