Many platforms seem to have targeted the teen comedy genre this summer: Prime Video did so as well, releasing on July 1, 2026 the first season – with the second already in production – of the Legally Blonde prequel series, the 2001 film that became a cult favorite among teenagers and beyond. Let’s explore together the locations of Elle.
What it’s about
Who was Elle Woods before becoming the law student who struggled to gain acceptance from the Harvard community we came to know in La rivincita delle bionde? Her adolescence was also filled with conflicts and transformations as she tried to fit in with her peers, especially after her family had to move from Bel Air to Seattle.
A significant shift for a girl accustomed to the frivolous, glossy life of the Los Angeles enclave, suddenly transplanted into «a city where it rains 160 days a year, forgotten by God and by Gucci», as Elle the character puts it in the new Prime Video series.
Where the series was filmed
Neither Bel Air nor Seattle, central to the protagonist’s adolescence, are among the locations of Elle. The series was shot mostly between Vancouver and some of the studios now highly regarded in Canada for television productions. There is, however, also a slice of Los Angeles among the places where the Legally Blonde prequel was filmed.
Los Angeles, Holmby Hills
One of the opening scenes of Elle is the young girl’s most recent birthday party in Bel Air. The house, festively decorated and full of guests, is plainly recognizable as the château-style estate at 100 North Carolwood Drive in Holmby Hills. This neighborhood is among the most luxurious in Los Angeles, famed for its large green villas and for hosting the rich and famous.
A castle-like structure recalling the Loire Valley, yet a real mansion with a myriad of different environments: there is even a private cinema in addition to seven bedrooms and thirteen bathrooms. The building that on screen hosts the Woods family and Elle as a teenager is famous for having been Michael Jackson’s last residence: the pop star moved here while preparing his final tour and was found dead on June 25, 2009, following a heart attack. For those wondering, Holmby Hills’ estate, later put up for auction, is not among the locations used for the biopic Michael.
Vancouver and surroundings
Several areas of Vancouver were chosen by the Elle production to recreate on screen as closely as possible the Seattle of the 1990s. In Vancouver’s downtown, amid the neon signs of the many nightlife venues and shops that stay open late, scenes were filmed to convey Elle’s initial sense of displacement after arriving in Seattle from Bel Air. On West Cordova Street, a busy artery day and night, scenes were shot in which Elle, stuck in city traffic, experiences the sensation of driving for the first time.
Among the locations for Elle in Vancouver is also the Queen Elizabeth Theatre: one of the city’s most important theaters, hosting ballet and opera performances throughout the year. Here a scene unfolds with Elle on stage alongside her new classmates.
Near Vancouver, the production shot in Burnaby: a city of just over two hundred thousand residents in British Columbia, also known as the “city of parks” thanks to its extensive green spaces. The Central Park, more precisely, served as the backdrop for the athletic competition scenes among Elle’s new school peers.
