The 2001 film '' Legally Blonde '' marked a turning point in Witherspoon 's career ; she starred as Elle Woods , a fashion-merchandising major who decides to become a law student in order to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School . Witherspoon said about the role , " When I read '' Legally Blonde '' , I was like , ' She 's from Beverly Hills , she 's rich , she 's in a sorority . She has a great boyfriend . Oh yeah , she gets dumped . Who cares ? I still hate her . ' So we had to make sure she was the kind of person you just ca n't hate . " '' Legally Blonde '' was a box-office hit , grossing US$ 96 million domestically . Witherspoon 's performance earned her praise from critics as the press began referring to her as " the new Meg Ryan " . Roger Ebert commented , " Witherspoon effortlessly animated this material with sunshine and quick wit " , and Salon.com noted that " she Witherspoon delineates Elle 's character beautifully " . Meanwhile , the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer '' concluded , " Witherspoon is a talented comedian who can perk up a scene just by marching in full of pep and drive and she powers this modest little comedy almost single-handedly . " For her work , Witherspoon garnered her second Golden Globe Best Actress nomination and an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
MTV Movie Award
2002 MTV Movie Awards
Reese Witherspoon