‘Elle,’ new ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel on Prime Video, is set in Seattle

Long before Elle Woods enrolled at Harvard Law School, the “Legally Blonde” heroine cut her teeth far away from the Ivy League campus and sunny Bel-Air, California — growing up right here in the Emerald City.

In a newly released trailer for Prime Video’s “Legally Blonde” prequel, “Elle,” we see the titular character weathering her family’s move to rainy Seattle. 

What, like it’s hard?

Apparently it is hard for a high-school-aged Elle, played by Lexi Minetree. The new series will follow the Woods family as they relocate to Seattle after Elle’s father (played by Tom Everett Scott) lands a new job in medicine in Washington state.

It’s not the Seattle of 2026 we’ll see in this prequel series, which debuts July 1 — the year is 1995, when grunge was transforming the Emerald City into a hot spot for alternative culture. It’s pretty much a polar opposite from Elle’s posh, pink, California upbringing.

Throughout the series, viewers will follow Elle as she “encounters tricky friendships, forbidden romance and questionable fashion choices,” according to a news release from Amazon MGM Studios.

So why Seattle? Not much is revealed in the trailer, other than scenes from a gloomy neighborhood (seemingly filmed using a blue filter similar to the one from “Twilight”), rain pouring outside a window (real Seattleites will notice the precipitation seems heavier than our typical drizzle) and Elle’s many high school classmates dressed in flannel. 

“Elle” ties the “Legally Blonde” universe to an exclusive club: movies and TV shows set in the Seattle area at the turn of the 21st century, joining modern classics like “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” 

It also joins another niche club: films and shows set in Seattle but not actually filmed here.

According to IMDb, the majority of “Elle” Season 1 was filmed in Los Angeles and British Columbia. That will sound familiar to anyone who watched Season 2 of “The Last of Us,” which was also filmed in B.C. “The Boys in the Boat,” a film following the University of Washington men’s rowing team triumph in the 1936 Olympics, eschewed the Pacific Northwest entirely and opted to film in London. 

Setting those quibbles aside, “Elle” showrunners Laura Kittrell and Caroline Dries seem determined with this show to dial up Seattle’s stereotype as a magnet for all things moody, laid back and decidedly not pink. 

Will it be enough to grab the attention of Seattleites, like Elle’s signature bend and snap? We’ll have to wait until July 1, when the first episode drops on Prime Video.