Christina Applegate comes clean about 'Legally Blonde' after hinting 'Dead to Me' is last act
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The movie industry is laden with examples of actors passing on roles that then fall into someone else’s laps and make their careers. It’s not a usual sight but a story of fate for these actors who pick up the roles rejected by a few or many. This is how new talent enters the arena of movies and makes an everlasting impression on audiences. A similar tale has unfolded once again.
Christina Applegate is a household name in the US with shows and films spanning a professional lifetime of over 40 years. The woman whose reputation precedes her recently sat down with Vanity Fair in an honest interview and revealed the minuscule details about her life and the ongoing problems surrounding it. During the interview, Christina also spoke about her continuous battle with multiple sclerosis (MS) while filming the last season of Netflix’s ‘Dead to Me’ and also shed light on an iconic role that she passed in the early days of her career. Unfortunately for her, the role could have given her instant stardom and shot her to the realms of all the A-list actor's time. With a heavy voice, Christina revealed that she let ‘Legally Blonde’ go which ended up becoming Reese Witherspoon’s claim to fame. But why did Christina decide not to take up the role?
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Why did Christina Applegate reject ‘Legally Blonde’?
The legal comedy film 'Legally Blonde', released in 2001, starred Reese Witherspoon as a blonde-haired, pink-obsessed sorority girl who attends Harvard Law School. Her goal is to break the stereotypes about the intelligence of blondes. The movie was an instant hit and made close to $141 million on a budget of $18 million. Christina had her apprehension about the script of the movie but not because it was bad or not up her alley but because the young actress at the time had just come off from ‘Married...With Children’, and the script looked eerily similar on paper to her. She decided not to repeat herself and allowed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pass. “I wouldn’t toy with the idea of Legally Blonde because it felt too fresh getting out of Married…With Children. It was very similar on paper. I started to read it and I remember calling them and going, "Oh, it’s too similar. Can’t do it.”
Does Christina regret rejecting the iconic role of ‘Legally Blonde’?
Christina has now entered the twilight of her career. Her terminal disease is slowly catching up with her and the actress is contemplating completely withdrawing from work after completing ‘Dead to Me’. The actress is not known for her regrets but with ‘Legally Blonde’, Christina considered it a mistake at first but cleared the air by stating that no one could have done the role better than Reese Witherspoon. “Um, big f***ing mistake. I’d have Witherspoon money! No, just kidding. You can’t imagine anyone playing Elle Woods other than Reese Witherspoon. I would have completely screwed it up.”
With MS catching up with her as quickly as it is, Christina believes that acting will have to wait but she’s adamant on doing voice-over stuff to support her family.