Inside the updated reboot of hit 1999 thriller Cruel Intentions
When Cruel Intentions was released in 1999, the cult film not only cemented the careers of Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar, it captured the attention of legions of millennials who were perhaps unfamiliar with its 1782 source material, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. As the story of deception and unrequited love makes its way to screens once again, this time as a series, creators Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman reflect on the timeless and juicy aspects of this tale and its ’90s adaptation. “Dangerous Liaisons was for adults, and [Cruel Intentions] kind of made it into a different version of the story,” says Goodman. “Kids acting like adults was a big part of that — plus, who doesn’t love stepsiblings?”
In the latest iteration of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ classic, hot-for-each-other stepsiblings Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) scheme to seduce the virginal vice president’s daughter Annie Grover ( ), when their Greek life hierarchy comes under threat. Bringing a dignitary’s daughter into the fold will restore their status, and, in the process, the scheme will entertain the half-siblings. As in all versions, the cruelty of those in power takes centre stage. “We think of this as a new iteration of an old story about people with privilege having fun at other people’s expense,” says Goodman.
The 1999 version, which Hook first saw in her early teens, left such an impression that when she prepared for her audition, she couldn’t help but channel Gellar’s version of the manipulative character. “We were encouraged to not mimic those performances and to make it our own. I was like, ‘They’re saying in the breakdown that they don’t want it, but I think they’re lying, and I think they do want that,’” she recalls. “But then, in the actual callback, hearing what they really wanted, it’s like, ‘OK, I get it.’ And then we just found [Caroline] together.” Her castmate Burgess decided to stay away from the film entirely, to avoid that very dilemma. “I didn’t want to replicate the wonderful job that Ryan did and made such a cult classic,” he explains. “I found such a sweet spot with Lucien towards the end of filming, and I’m really excited to see if he’s able to progress. So, I think I’ll probably stay away.”
Fisher and Goodman are acutely aware of their fortune in finding the right actors for a script that requires skillful adapting to tonal shifts. “It’s complicated language. It’s a lot of language. There’s a comedic element, there’s the manipulation, there’s the sexual element, and there’s a depth underneath all of it, and so we just knew we just needed to wait and find exactly the right people, which we did,” says Goodman. Similarly, finding the right person for the role would inject compassion into the text. “We have that satirical quality, and I think the casting really helped us with that,” says Goodman. “In terms of all of the actors, you can feel their humanity, and I just think that people will love them and love to hate them, and those are the best characters on TV.”
Whether portrayed by Hook and Burgess, Gellar and Philippe or Glenn Close and John Malkovich, the roles of the scheming villains would demand undeniable charm mixed with real vulnerability. “One of the more challenging pieces of it was, while maintaining this mean girl-persona, I still had to make her a real person,” says Hook. “That was interesting for me. You can choose to play a caricature version of these characters, but Sara and Phoebe really wanted us to be grounded humans at the end of the day. Finding that balance was super rewarding.” In the process, Burgess also learned to embrace a quality he didn’t think he possessed. “It was a type of confidence that I don’t think I inhabited before,” he says. “It pushed me to really step out of my comfort zone and play with this character that was super wacky and out there. And stepping from such a bold character into this man that actually cares for people, it was a big shift. So, [the work] pushed me in all sorts of ways.”
Whatever shape Les Liaisons Dangereuses takes, there is no doubt that the sexy conspiracy of the origin story still holds strong. “I mean, it is privileged people entertaining themselves,” states Goodman. “I think everyone wants a glimpse into a world that they’re not allowed into, and ultimately that’s what the show does. This is a world that everyone wants in on and it seems amazing, and inside is a little more messed up than they hoped. Who doesn’t want to see those people have their own problems, challenges and fun?”
Cruel Intentions, streaming on Prime Video