LONDON -- In person, Reese Witherspoon seems nothing like Elle Woods, her alter-ego in the Legally Blonde comedies.
As she enters the interview suite at the Dorchester Hotel, the only obvious hint they're one and the same is Witherspoon's pink nail polish and the big pink stripe on her sweater.
Elle is famously pink, famously bubble-headed and famously optimistic.
Witherspoon is poised, polite and eloquent.
"What I like about Elle, and what I hope I emulate of her in my own life, is that she is very accomplished and driven, yet she's also girly and feminine," says Witherspoon, who executive produced Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde through her own company, Type A Films.
"I don't just want to be serious and the head of a corporation. I want to get my nails and hair done and look pretty. It makes me feel good inside to pamper myself."
Witherspoon feels Elle's ability to shake her booty, as well as the establishment, is what has endeared her to women around the world.
Made on a budget of $18 million US in 2001, Legally Blonde went on the gross $150 million worldwide.
Witherspoon's paycheque this time around accounts for $11 million of Blonde 2's $25 million budget. "One of the most exciting things for me at the early test screenings of Red, White and Blonde was how women reacted to the love story in the film."
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Luke Wilson, who plays Elle's boyfriend, has just three scenes in the film to establish they're planning their marriage. He's very much a minor character kept on the sidelines.
Elle leaves him behind in Chicago as she travels to Washington to fight for animal rights. "Women kept telling us they were satisfied to know the relationship was going well, but were really more interested in Elle's struggles in Washington," recalls Witherspoon.
"We're happy and they're happy it's a film about a woman and her life that has nothing to do with her fretting about her romantic troubles."
Witherspoon, 27, says this situation is a mirror of her own life: Ryan Phillippe was a guest at her 21st birthday party; they felt a connection immediately and carried on a telephone romance for months before dating.
The couple began living together the following year, conceived a child and then married in June 1999.
Their daughter, Ava Elizabeth Phillippe, was born that September.
"My life these past six years has been a process of learning about and becoming the person I want to be.
"Finding Ryan -- who is a friend, lover and husband -- at such a young age, getting married and having a child have had a most incredible impact on me."
Witherspoon says the birth of her daughter made her re-evaluate her life and feels she's a better person as a result of motherhood.
"When I became a mom, I had to think, 'OK, I'm going to have to teach this little girl how to be a great person yet, I'm not a great person myself.'
"Since Ava arrived, I have actively been trying to be a better person. I suddenly discovered people were more receptive to me and I was far more receptive to others. I became so open to life, and life has been treating me better."
She scoffs at stories that appeared in the gossip press two years ago suggesting the couple's marriage was in jeopardy because of her new-found stardom.
"Ryan does very well for himself. He is getting to work with really great people.
"More importantly, our relationship is not competitive. Our life together, our lives separately and our relationship is not defined by how well we're doing in our careers and business ventures, or by who is doing what. It's only certain members of the press who try to pit us against each other.
"That's their problem, not ours."
Witherspoon and Phillippe are expecting their second child in December.
She was scheduled to begin filming a new version of Vanity Fair in August, but when she discovered she was pregnant, the production was rushed into a May start.
"I'm really beginning to fill out now, so the costume people are adjusting my wardrobe. My inspiration is Julianne Moore, who looked so fabulous in Far From Heaven. You couldn't tell she was pregnant.
"During my first pregnancy, I think my entire diet consisted of chocolate croissants. My face ballooned until I looked like Shamu the killer whale.
"This time around, I'm following a very healthy, balanced diet."
Witherspoon is pleased women -- and especially young girls -- respond so well to Elle Woods, but cautions about looking at the actress, rather than the character as their role model.
"When I was a young woman, I was nothing like I am today. In school, I was really private, very bookish and quiet. Secretly, I longed to be an actress and had a great pretend life, but I wasn't the outgoing person I am today, or that Elle is."
Like the millions of fans of Legally Blonde, Witherspoon loves its effervescent heroine.
"I worked with the writers on the screenplay for Blonde 2, so it's even more personal for me.
"Though it was two years between films, I found it so simple to step back into her shoes and get back into her speech patterns and her walk.
"It's a comfortable place to be."
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