Top Videos Cruel intentions follows the students of Manchester College, a prestigious school that turns young aristocrats into America’s future leaders, whether they are qualified or not. In this cruel academy, students are manipulative sociopaths, their hapless pawns or their hapless victims. The series is based on the 1999 film of the same name, as well as the original material, the 1782 novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Two of the nicest students in the new Cruel intentions story are Scott and Blaise, played by Khobe Clarke and John Kim, respectively. Scott is a good-natured but helpless and naive student who becomes president of the fraternity through no effort of his own, while Blaise acts as his coach, ostensibly serving as Scott’s right-hand man while manipulating him for his own ends.
TelaRant interviewed Clarke and Kim about their work on Cruel intentions. They discussed playing characters who are comparatively less duplicitous than the rest of the class: while other students sexually manipulate their own stepbrothers, Scott is just trying to play lacrosse and overcome his homosexual desires. There is an irony to the show’s take on Scott’s coming-out story, as something that would be seen as controversial on most other shows is almost outdated when compared to other happenings at Manchester College. Kim talked about her character’s arc that comes to a head in the final episode, in one of the best (and most surprising) scenes of the series.
Cruel Intentions’ Khobe Clarke and John Kim on Scott’s Journey of Sexual Discovery
“Scott is a lovely breath of fresh air amongst a very outrageous group of narcissists.”
Screen Rant: Hello boys! Boy, after talking to everyone, you know, involved in the show and watching the entire show in one night, I woke up at midnight and watched the whole thing.
Khobe Clarke: Really? This morning?
John Kim: I appreciate that! Did you eat too much? You are my hero.
Khobe Clarke: Yes, you are mine too!
Khobe, those shady half-brothers have these schemes and machinations, and you’re just trying to play sports and figure out your sexuality.
Khobe Clarke: Yeah man! Scott is a lovely breath of fresh air amongst a very outrageous set of narcissists. So it was fun. You know, everybody came to work with these heavy sides with a lot of, you know, their cruel intentions behind, you know, their actions set during the day. And Scott was holding a lacrosse ball, kissing John, or eating a hot dog.
John, your performance brings this arc together in such a fantastic way that I won’t spoil it, but that scene in the last episode with you two and the congressman [Jon Tenney] knocked me out.
Khobe Clarke: Doesn’t he crush it? Jon Tenney is the best!
John Kim: The best! I had the privilege of working with [Khobe] all season, and to bring Jon Tenney into that dynamic, I didn’t have to do much. They gave me everything I needed and you see that intensity on screen without ruining anything.
John, there’s a certain degree of duplicity almost by nature, but your character is so desperate because he doesn’t come from money like everyone else does, or at least he doesn’t have money right this second.
John Kim: Right. It’s a matter of how far you would go to get what you want without paying attention to the situation at hand. And I think he makes things difficult for himself, purely based on ambition. And blind ambition, if you will. And I think he feels some of the consequences of that as you go through each episode. Yes.
Khobe Clarke and John Kim on being the main “vessel” of cruel intentions
“I really hope that Scott and Blaise work things out and, hopefully, make up.”
Its characters are the most empathetic figures in the series. We’re actually rooting for you, but we just want to see the other characters do the most horrible things to each other.
Khobe Clarke: Thanks, Zak! I hope people agree with you. I know I’m really rooting for Scott and Blaise to work it out and hopefully make up and work it all out. Yeah, I mean, it was so easy to play John and the development of that friendship, it was a joy.
John Kim: Yes, I hope they send it! I don’t know if shipping is still a thing.
Oh yeah, you’re definitely the main ship of the show.
John Kim: Oh, wow. OK!
Khobe Clarke: And he just finished!
John Kim: I feel good about myself now!
Khobe Clarke: You’re a crazy man, Zak!
John Kim: Thanks, Zak!
Like Scott, you have the best improprieties.
Khobe Clarke: Your vocabulary is extraordinary.
Those Archie Bunkerisms, they become so endearing as they go on that you go from being a “dumb guy” to a really endearing figure. Tell me about being so sweet!
Khobe Clarke: Oh yes, thank you! Many of Scott’s characteristics are things I would like to do more of myself. I think he is a lovely person at his core. He’s very protected and kind of saved from a lot of the hardships in the world. So I think, with his humor, it was a challenge because Scott, he has to believe everything he’s saying. So, as an actor, me too. So it was a challenge to provide so much sincerity to dumb jokes, so to speak.
More About Cruel Intentions Season 1
Cruel Intentions follows the elite students at Manchester College, a university adjacent to Washington, D.C., where reputation means everything, fraternities and sororities are the gold standard, and two ruthless half-siblings, Caroline Merteuil and Lucien Belmont, will do anything to stay . top of the cruel social hierarchy. After a brutal hazing incident threatens the entire Greek system of life, they will do whatever it takes to preserve their power and reputation – even if it means seducing Annie Grover, the daughter of the Vice President of the United States. Hearts will be broken, loyalties will be tested and secrets will be revealed in the modern royal court that is Manchester College.
Check out our others Cruel intentions interviews here:
Source: Screen Rant Plus