| “ | I'm a man who knows what he wants. | „ |
| ~ Callahan in the movie after revealing his true colors. |
| “ | What you’ve learned isn’t the point. You’ve got instincts. And instincts, legal or otherwise, can’t be taught. Trust your instincts. | „ |
| ~ Callahan buttering Elle up in the musical before sexually assaulting her. |
Professor Aaron Callahan is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Chutney Windham) of the 2001 comedy film Legally Blonde and its 2007 musical adaptation.
Callahan is a professor at Harvard Law School who is the former teacher of Elle Woods. While initially seen as a respectable lawyer and mentor, Callahan is eventually revealed to be a perverted man, hiring Elle on his internship solely so he can seduce her.
He was portrayed by Victor Garber, who also played Paul Sandig in Law & Order, Sinestro in Green Lantern: First Flight, Henry Stein in DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Michael De Graaf in The Simpsons. In the musical adaptation, he was played by Michael Rupert, who also played Marvin in the original Broadway cast of Falsettos.
History[]
Movie[]
After Elle Woods was dumped by her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, for not being serious enough to be in Harvard Law School like him, she decides to attend the school to prove him wrong. However, Elle is having trouble fitting in, as the students and environment at Harvard were different to her, and Professor Stromwell kicks her out of class for not being prepared. After realising that Warner will never take her back, she resolves to improve herself, with her winning one of Callahan's mock trials and giving him her resume. Eventually, Callahan gives Elle an internship where she gets to aid him on a recent murder case where fitness queen Brooke Taylor-Windham's husband Hayworth was fatally shot, and Brooke is the prime suspect. Also getting the internship are Warner, Warner's new fiancé Vivian Kensington, and Enid Wexler.
While researching for the trial, Elle reveals she used to take Brooke's class and they were both Delta Nu's, and she doesn't believe Brooke did it, despite everyone else believing Brooke is competetly guilty. Brooke also refuses to tell any of the team her alibi and even says she will lie if put on the stand. Elle goes down to the prison and discovers Brooke was getting a liposuction at the time of the murder, and Brooke makes Elle promise to not tell anyone about it, since it would ruin her career. Elle tells Callahan she got the alibi, but won't tell him it because she promised her she'd keep it a secret and she "can't break the bonds of sisterhood". Callahan angrily screams "screw sisterhood" and says he wants the alibi, only for Elle to remain firm to her promise. Warner tells Elle she should tell him the alibi since she will probably be hired as a summer associate if she does, saying Brooke doesn't matter and she should think about herself. Callahan has Elle go with Emmett Richmond, one of his associates, to interview Hayworth's ex-wife, who tells them that Brooke was having an affair with Enrique Salvatore, Brooke's pool boy, which would serve as a motive for the murder.
During the trial, Hayworth's daughter Chutney testifies that Brooke was standing over Hayworth's dead body and Hayworth's ex-wife testifies that Brooke was sitting topless next to the pool while Enrique handed her a drink. Enrique testifies about having an affair with Brooke, and he says he is. Brooke tells Elle a Delta Nu "would never sleep with a man in a thong", and just liked watching him clean the filter. Outside the court, Enrique cuts in lie for the water fountain, and when Elle stomps her feet waiting for him, Enrique tells her to not stomp her "little last-season Prada shoes" at him. Elle tells the team Enrique is gay; gay men know designer shoes, and straight man don't, which she shows by asking Warner what her shoes her and he just answers "the black ones". While Brooke believes Elle since Enrique left a Cher tape in the pool one time, Callahan doesn't and dismisses this as a theory. Callahan asks Enrique on the stand if he can prove the affair, and when Enrique says "only the love in my heart", Callahan says he's done. Emmet then goes on the stand and asks him questions about the affair before asking him the name of his boyfriend, and Enrique says "Chuck". While Enrique tries to pass it off as Chuck being "just a friend", Chuck gets mad and leaves.
Callahan calls Elle into his office and admits he should've listened to her theory, telling her he is impressed he took the initiative to get the alibi and got Brooke's trust and kept it, telling her this is what makes a great lawyer and smarter than the other guys on his payroll. Callahan asks Elle if she's ever thought about where she would be a summer associate, and when she says she knows it's competitive, he says competition is about carnage and about how far people will go to get it. Callahan then puts his hand on her leg, which Vivian sees. After Vivian leaves, Elle pushes Callahan's hand away and disgustingly asks if Callahan is hitting on her, and he says she's a beautiful girl. Callahan says he said all those things to Elle because he's "a man who knows what he wants", and Elle says she's "a law student who just realised her professor is a pathetic asshole". Elle leaves, with Callahan saying she thought she was a law student who wanted to be a lawyer. On the way down, Vivian But when he asks Elle to talk to him alone in a room he hits on her, which makes Elle realize he was only impressed with her because he wanted to sleep with her, which causes Elle to leave the room, while Vivien, had incorrectly assumed that Elle willingly had sex with Callahan to allow her a spot on the case, angrily asks Elle why she doesn't just sleep with the jury to win the case. Elle tells Emmett Callahan only gave her the internship because of her looks and that he hit on her, saying she's quitting and going home to California. Emmett tells her to stay, but she leaves.
Elle tearfully tells her friend Paulette Bonafonté that she's leaving, only for Professor Stromwell to convince return to the case. Meanwhile, Emmett, Brooke, and Vivian are watching TV, where Callahan takes credit for discrediting Enrique, and Emmett tells them what he did, leading Vivian to feel sorry about it. Brooke fires Callahan and replaces him with Elle, with her friend David showing a rule that law students can defend clients under the client under the supervision of a licensed attorney. Callahan refuses to allow it, only for Emmett to allow it instead. Callahan smugly tells Brooke to "enjoy prison". Elle defends Brooke and proves that Chutney is the real killer, winning the case and getting Brooke exonerated of all charges. Emmett ended up quitting Callahan's firm and starting his own, dating Elle.
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