Dylan Mulvaney has once again expressed her hope that she will one day play Elle Woods in Legally Blonde the musical, but her dream is seemingly getting closer to becoming reality.
Speaking to PinkNews ahead of her West End debut later this month, where she’ll star in new musical We Aren’t Kids Anymore, the trans theatre star said she’s keen to lead the Legally Blonde musical but securing the rights is “so hard”.
“It is so hard to get rights for a musical. If anybody knows the people that have the rights to Legally Blonde the musical, please let us do it,” she said. “I think it could be really good. Imagine Paulette as a trans elder? So good.”
Responding to her interview with PinkNews, actor and artist Ryan Bauer-Walsh said that they had worked with Nell Benjamin, the Olivier Award-winning writer behind the 2007 Legally Blonde musical.
Bauer-Walsh said that they could “just call” Benjamin to discuss the rights, adding: “Just messaged Nell.”
Mulvaney then replied to Bauer-Walsh, writing: “THANK YOU!!”
The actress has long made it clear that to play Elle Woods in a version of the beloved 2001 comedy, which famously starred Reese Witherspoon in the titular role, is a bucket list wish.
In 2024, she told IMDb that it would be “powerful” to see a trans person take on such a well-known role.
“I wanna play Elle and have maybe a trans Emmett and a trans Paulette,” she said.
“What’s so cool about plugging trans people into existing stories is it inherently changes what the topic is, but in a way that you don’t actually have to do much to the script.
“Actually, I think it makes it even more powerful.”
Earlier this year, Mulvaney – who got her big career theatre break playing Elder White in the touring US production of The Book of Mormon, reiterated her hope to MTV.
“I’m excited to now take on roles that aren’t Dylan Mulvaney and get to play the Glindas,” she said, referring to Wicked’s Good Witch.
“My dream role is Elle Woods in Legally Blonde the musical. I would love it. I just think we need to see trans people take on these iconic characters because it shows that it doesn’t take all that much effort and it actually makes the story even richer and bolder and more interesting,” she explained.
Legally Blonde follows fashion merchandising major Elle Woods as she enrols in a course at Harvard Law in an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend. Yet, while on the course, she realises that she’s got a passion for the legal industry.
Along the way, she’s advised by her nail technician and confidant Paulette, played in the film by Jennifer Coolidge, whom Mulvaney would also like to reimagine as a “trans elder” character.
There could be more opportunities for Mulvaney to become involved in the Legally Blonde world in the near future too, as last year it was reported that Witherspoon’s TV company Hello Sunshine was working on a TV spin-off with Amazon.
Dylan Mulvaney stars in We Aren’t Kids Anymore at London’s Savoy Theatre from 28 April.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
The post Dylan Mulvaney might be one step closer to making a trans Legally Blonde appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.