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He’s pop culture’s ultimate bad boyfriend.
“Legally Blonde” star Matthew Davis, who played Warner Huntington III, exclusively told The Post that he “had no clue” the 2001 movie would become such a phenomenon when they initially shot it.
“I was 22 or 23 when I shot the film, and I had no clue what it was going to go on to become all these years later — to have it be such a cultural phenomenon that touched so many people’s lives,” the 48-year-old gushed.
Davis played Warner, Elle Woods’ (Reese Witherspoon) boyfriend who dumped her at the beginning of the movie as he went on to Harvard Law School. Claiming that she wasn’t “serious” enough to date, he was aghast when Elle followed him to law school.
Going down memory lane for the flick’s 25th anniversary, “The Vampire Diaries” actor told The Post that he recalls trying to “do [his] best to keep up, and stay out of the way” as a scene partner to Witherspoon.
“The very first scene I shot with Reese was the breakup scene in the restaurant,” he revealed, noting that he prepared for it to the best of his “limited ability at the time as a very young actor.
“I thought I had a grasp on what it was,” he added. “[But] when I showed up to set, I didn’t see Reese. I saw Elle. I saw this force of nature.”
At the time, Witherspoon had already starred in hits like “Fear” and “Cruel Intentions,” while “Legally Blonde” was one of Davis’s first roles.
Watching the more experienced actress, he realized that he “needed to throw away everything that [he] thought [he] was doing.
“It scrambled my mind at the time….it became like a minor existential crisis,” he quipped, explaining that his only thought during the filming was to “just keep up.”
“‘Just keep up with her, and you’ll be fine.’ And I just remember surrendering everything I had to just match what she was doing,” he added.
The “Legacies” actor said that, to this day, people regularly come up to him telling him that “Legally Blonde” inspired them to go to law school.
He added, “Not a week goes by that I don’t have somebody texting me a picture of the movie [playing] on some flight that they’re on.”
Last month, Davis reunited with the “Legally Blonde” cast — including Witherspoon, Selma Blair and Jennifer Coolidge — to celebrate the iconic movie’s 25th anniversary – and the release of the prequel series, “Elle” (now streaming on Prime Video).
The actor called Prime Video’s 25th anniversary celebration “a real treat, explaining that the last time he saw Witherspoon was in 2001.
“It was warm and sweet, and it brought a lot of joy to my heart to see everyone looking so good,” he added.
However, Davis said it was especially nice to see Blair, 54, because he “had such a huge crush on her” when they worked together on the film.
“I was very new to Hollywood; I was very green,” Davis recalled of Blair, who played Warner’s law school fiancée, who eventually dumped him and befriended Elle.
“I think [Blair] saw that, and put me under her wing, a little bit. She was very kind to me, and I will always love her for that.”
Davis also confessed to us that he has yet to seen “Ellen” because his two young daughters, whom he shares with ex-wife Kiley Casciano, have “hijacked” his TV with “kid stuff.”
“I wish it the absolute best, and I will do my part to watch the show … it’s definitely on the docket,” he promised.
English (US)