Paul Bettany Was Almost Cast Over Luke Wilson as Emmett in 'Legally Blonde'

Luke Wilson almost wasn’t cast as Emmett in Legally Blonde, and the role could’ve been played by Paul Bettany!

While celebrating the film’s 20th anniversary, casting director Joseph Middleton revealed to The New York Times (via) that the Avengers actor might have been Elle’s love interest instead of Luke.

“I loved Paul Bettany for the Luke role,” he shared, before revealing just why the role went to Luke instead.

Click inside to see why!

Turns out that the role went to Luke over Paul because Paul “was British, and they felt like it needed to be a real American.”

Karen McCullah, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Kirsten Smith, also revealed to the paper that Emmett was actually called “the Luke Wilson character”.

“They saw some other actors, and finally Joseph was like, ‘Maybe we should get Luke to play the Luke Wilson character,’” she recalled. “I was like, ‘You think?’”

Luke previously opened up about the possibility of Legally Blonde 3. Here’s what he said…

A lot of other things were revealed about the fan favorite movie, including an alternate ending, and cast crushes.