Matthew Davis, who played the role of Warner Huntington III in the 2001 film Legally Blonde, has spoken about the experience of working on the movie, which has become a cultural phenomenon. Davis, now 48, told The Post that he had no idea the film would go on to have such a significant impact when they initially shot it.
At the time of filming, Davis was 22 or 23 years old and had no clue what the movie would become in the years to come. He played the role of Warner, the boyfriend who dumped Elle Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon, at the beginning of the movie, citing that she wasn’t “serious” enough to date.
Davis recalled trying to “do his best to keep up, and stay out of the way” as a scene partner to Witherspoon, who had already starred in hits like Fear and Cruel Intentions. He remembered that when he showed up to set, he didn’t see Reese, but rather “this force of nature” that was Elle Woods.
Davis explained that watching Witherspoon, who was more experienced at the time, made him realize that he needed to “throw away everything that he thought he was doing.” He described the experience as “scrambling his mind” and causing a “minor existential crisis,” with his only thought being to “just keep up” with Witherspoon’s performance.
To this day, people regularly come up to Davis telling him that Legally Blonde inspired them to go to law school. He also mentioned that not a week goes by without someone texting him a picture of the movie playing on a flight they’re on.
Last month, Davis reunited with the Legally Blonde cast, including Witherspoon, Selma Blair, and Jennifer Coolidge, to celebrate the iconic movie’s 25th anniversary and the release of the prequel series, Elle, which is now streaming on Prime Video.
Davis described the reunion as “a real treat” and said it was especially nice to see Blair, whom he had a huge crush on when they worked together on the film. He recalled that Blair, who played Warner’s law school fiancée, was very kind to him and took him under her wing, and he will always be grateful for that.
Davis confessed that he has yet to see the new prequel series, Elle, as his two young daughters have “hijacked” his TV with “kid stuff.” However, he promised to watch the show and wished it “the absolute best.”
