Legally Blonde fans arise! Paulette Bonafonté is coming back, and she is here to stay — at least, that’s according to actress Reese Witherspoon. With the third installment of the comedy films already in the talks, many have taken note of Jennifer Coolidge‘s past cameos in the films, and whether her return is also being planned.
Coolidge played Paulette Banafonté in the first two installments of the franchise, a manicurist who befriends Elle Woods (Witherspoon). This role was so indispensable that during an interview with ET, Witherspoon confirmed that “there is no Legally Blonde 3 without Jennifer Coolidge.” This announcement did not end there, as the lead actress of the franchise went on to thoroughly praised Coolidge, and her recent achievements after receiving acclaimed praise for her role in The White Lotus.
“I’m beyond myself about Jennifer Coolidge. She deserves every one of those flowers she is receiving right now. And she’s just one of those people who is so naturally gifted and funny and that you can just tell people love her, ’cause she gets up there and everybody’s like, ‘I love her,’ but she’s just done a lot of good work in our business for so long, that it’s really nice to see her getting this incredible moment.”
This news comes right at the perfect time. Back in October, Coolidge had commented she had yet to receive a call from Legally Blonde 3 writer Mindy Calling, asking for her return. “I know nothing, I mean I don’t know if they wanted to surprise me or something, ’cause I hear about it a lot,” Coolidge said, “I heard that Mindy has this amazing version of our next round, but I haven’t seen it. I don’t have the call yet.”
The Velma actress and producer, however, already kept Coolidge in her plans, as she admitted back in April. “[She] is just someone who all writers would kill to write for,” Kaling said. “She is so funny. She elevates any material and she is just like… She can just do a glance, it is just hilarious. And so as a writer, it’s the jackpot.
While Legally Blonde 3 still has no official title or release date, the first two installments can be found on Prime Video.