When it comes to pretty much any career, everyone has to start somewhere. And sometimes where they start is far different from where they end up. For example, we knew that Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key were comedy geniuses thanks to their show Key & Peele. But did anyone see Peele being a horror directing legend in the making or Key being brilliant in musicals? Probably not. In a similar vein to Peele, horror auteur Oz Perkins—known for directing films like Longlegs and The Monkey—got his start as an actor. In fact, one of Oz Perkins earliest roles was in the beloved 2001 comedy film Legally Blonde.
In the film, Perkins famously played Dorky David Kidney, a student at Harvard alongside Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods. For those who are somehow not familiar with Legally Blonde, Elle Woods is a rich California sorority girl who works hard to earn a spot at Harvard Law School to prove to her ex-boyfriend that she can be “serious enough.” She comes to the school and is very much a fish-out-of-water among her classmates, many whom judge her unfairly because of her trendy clothes and bubbly personality. She essentially discovers that she actually wants to be there, makes a few friends, wins a big case, and succeeds without her ex being her motivation.
As Dorky David’s name suggests, he is very socially awkward and doesn’t quite fit in with his peers. However, he forms a connection with Elle, who doesn’t treat him in the way that you’d expect the average popular girl to do. The tall and sweet David is a fave character among fans of the film. Oz is very believable in the role and uses his 6’4 frame to really sell David’s discomfort with highly visible due to his height, which only heightens his anxiety at times. I especially love this moment where Elle steps in to give David an assist and make him look like a cool dude:
Perkins continued to act in several small parts before writing his first film, Removal, in 2010. His profile as a writer and director truly began to rise with his feature directorial debut, The Blackcoat’s Daughter, in 2015. Even as the child of Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates in Psycho, Perkins still had to prove himself in the industry and genre and certainly has cemented his own legacy.
But, no matter how far his career goes, he will always have a special spot in Legally Blonde fans’ hearts as Dorky David.