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For Reese Witherspoon’s character in “Legally Blonde,” despite finding her way into Harvard Law School, there needed to be one big moment that finally quieted anyone who still doubted her abilities. As Witherspoon revealed on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” she wanted to have a similar moment that Marisa Tomei had at the end of “My Cousin Vinny.” “She came in and testified about this very technical jargon about a car or a carburetor,” Witherspoon said. “And I said to the writers, ‘I want to have a moment like that where I say something very specific that only Elle Woods would know it.’ “
The moment in court Witherspoon is referring to comes towards the end of “My Cousin Vinny,” when Tomei’s character, Mona Lisa, saves the day with her surprise expert testimony. In “Legally Blonde,” Elle cross examines Chutney (Linda Cardellini), who is accusing her stepmother of shooting her father. Just when Elle seems like she’s about to fail and prove all her doubters correct, her fashion expertise turns everything around. “And it was inspired by Marisa Tomei,” she explained.
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Fans know that Elle’s knowledge of hair perms was what ended up exonerating her client. Chutney, who claimed she was in the shower when her father was killed, also revealed that she had just gotten home from getting a perm. Elle determined that it wouldn’t be possible for the witness to be in the shower, since you need to wait over 24 hours after a perm before getting it wet. This leads to an immediate confession by Chutney that she wanted to murder her stepmother, but inadvertently shot and killed her father instead.
