Christina Applegate opened up recently about her decision to turn down a very famous role, saying she was afraid she would be “repeating” herself by jumping from a ditzy blonde character on Married With Children to a girl who could be perceived as the same.
The Vacation star told Entertainment Tonight that she was up for the role of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, but ultimately decided against it for fear of continually being typecast as a certain kind of character. The decision turned out to work in the favor of another actress, however, and Applegate says she’s glad.
“The script came along my way and it was right after I had just finished Married and it was, you know, a blonde who was, in that first script dimwitted but ends up going to Harvard. It was just, I got scared. I got scared of kind of repeating myself…What a stupid move that was! That’s okay, you know what? Reese deserved that and she did a much better job than I ever could, so that’s her life, that’s her path,” Applegate said.
Of course, most people know by now that Legally Blonde went on to be a huge success, spawning a sequel and a Broadway show, and was one of Reese Witherspoon’s biggest hits to date. However, Applegate hasn’t exactly had a rough go of it; the actress has appeared in many successful films since her time on the hit sitcom, including Anchorman with Will Ferrell. Her latest movie, a Vacation reboot/sequel, is drawing in audiences but hasn’t received the greatest reviews so far. The film, which follows Rusty Griswold and his family as they attempt a second trek to Wally World, hit theaters this week.