Exclusive Interview
‘Cruel Intentions’ Cast Breaks Down How New Series Compares to Classic Movie (VIDEO)
It’s been 25 years since Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe) walked the streets of New York City and attempted to woo Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon) to claim his most sought-after prize: a night with his stepsister Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Now, Prime Video is opening up a new chapter with a Cruel Intentions series.
But this isn’t a sequel; the series features new characters in a very different story. The show centers around the elite students of Manchester College, a Washington, D.C.-adjacent university, where fraternities and sororities rule.
Step-siblings Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) are determined to stay at the top of the cutthroat social hierarchy, but that’s easier said than done. When a hazing incident threatens the Greek life system, they attempt to seduce Annie Grover, the daughter of the Vice President of the United States, in more ways than one.
Prime Video
Naturally, fans of the original movie will want to know about the Easter eggs and just how connected the show is to its predecessor. Swooon spoke to the cast about the key similarities and differences.
Savannah Lee Smith, who plays Annie, wasn’t “too influenced” by Witherspoon’s Annette. “This is a reimagining, a new chapter in the lore of Cruel Intentions,” she said. “So I really wanted to bring that to Annie as well, reimagine her, and she’s a new person with different ideas, different perspectives, different background. Of course, things are similar. A lot of things are similar. But I didn’t necessarily want to be too influenced. I wanted to kind of take her off the page and and see what I could bring to her to make her a new, fresh character.”
John Harlan Kim‘s cunning and mischievous Blaise is “loosely based on Blaine, played by the wonderful Joshua Jackson. And as far as this next chapter of Cruel Intentions goes, I think we’ve sort of evolved maybe some of the things and made him a little more self-operating than the original movie.”
Sara Silva‘s Cece is Caroline’s right-hand woman, but she’s not naive like Selma Blair‘s character in the 1999 film. “She’s hyper-intelligent and just very capable,” Silva noted about her version. “She’s still definitely insecure and doesn’t pick up on everything. She’s a little confused and naive, but she’s on top of it.”
Prime Video
However, there will be a familiar face amongst the cast: Sean Patrick Thomas. But he’s not playing his original Cruel Intentions. He steps into the role of Professor Chadwick in this new iteration and revealed it was “never a discussion” to play the role of Ronald Clifford again.
“This whole script is completely fresh and brand-new with new character,” he said. “There are similarities, I think, between Ronald and Professor Chadwick in the sense that neither one of them is steeped in the world of lies and treachery, and they get kind of sucked into it, but that’s really the only similarity. They’re completely different characters.”
There will also be plenty of new characters, including Beatrice, played by Brooke Lena Johnson. Beatrice and Annie knew of each other before Annie arrived at Manchester, and Johnson admitted that “Beatrice is very strong-willed and tries to take Annie under her wing.”
Beatrice and Annie’s friendship will be a core dynamic of the new series. Smith told Swooon that this friendship is “one of the more complex” and “complicated” ones in the show because their reputations are on the line.
“I think it really influences our relationship,” Johnson teased. “It kind of gets in the way of it for a little while.”
Cruel Intentions, Series Premiere, November 21, Prime Video
