Why Reese Witherspoon wants Tom Cruise treatment

Veteran Hollywood actor Reese Witherspoon has said she would be open to stepping back into her iconic Legally Blonde role, hinting that she would “love” to return as Elle Woods if the timing and story are right.

The Morning Show star originally played Elle Woods in the 2001 hit comedy Legally Blonde and its 2003 sequel. In a recent interview with Extra, she said the character still means a lot to her and she would happily revisit it under the right circumstances.

“I would love to do it again,” she said, adding that Elle Woods feels like her “superhero” character. “It just has to be perfect.”

Witherspoon compared the idea of bringing Elle Woods back to other major Hollywood comebacks, pointing to Tom Cruise returning as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick after decades, as well as Adam Sandler reviving Happy Gilmore. She said those projects worked because they were done at exactly the right time.

“Tom Cruise did it right,” she said. “He only brought Top Gun back when it was absolutely right. He nailed it.”

She added that she sees Elle Woods in a similar category and would only return if the project felt just as special.

In an earlier appearance on The Graham Norton Show in January 2025, Witherspoon also shared a lighter story about how her Legally Blonde fame once led to an unexpected jury duty experience.

She recalled being called for jury duty in Beverly Hills years after the film’s release, joking that she thought she would be excused because of her celebrity status. Instead, she ended up serving on a trial that lasted about two weeks.

“I did not want to do jury duty,” she said, adding that she was surprised when she was selected despite assuming she wouldn’t be chosen.

Despite the unexpected civic duty, Witherspoon said the experience became one of those unusual life moments tied to her long-standing association with Elle Woods.