Cruel intentions follows the students of Manchester College and the mischievous games of seduction they play for their own amusement and joy in wreaking havoc on people’s lives. The Prime Video series is based on the 1999 film of the same name, which in turn is based on the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons Dangereusesby Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.
Cruel IntentandThe main characters, Caroline and Lucien (Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess), are half-siblings who make a bet involving the sexual destiny of Annie Grover, daughter of the vice president of the United States. As their depraved games spiral further out of control, with more and more students forced to play pawns in their plot, the brothers must decide how far they are willing to go to consolidate their power at Manchester College. While the characters are certainly despicable in their own way, Cruel intentions manages to remain consistently funny due to its wry sense of humor and satirical tone.
TelaRant interviewed Hook and Burgess about their work on Cruel intentions. They talked about how their characters compare to their counterparts from the 1999 film, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, and how they were told not to copy those iconic performances in an effort to let the show stand on its own merits. They described the setting as “the timeless present,” right down to the show’s treatment of cell phones, which actually only have one noteworthy use.
Cruel Intentions’ Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess on NOT Copying the 1999 Film
“I haven’t seen the film yet… It was a creative choice not to imitate them.”
Screen Rant: It’s a delight to see that you are human beings, actors. This is just one part.
Sarah Catherine Hook: They’re not real people. Yes, I understood. I understand.
On the one hand, we love to say, “Oh, these characters are so depraved.” They make, you know, this version makes Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar look like, you know, Bert and Ernie.
Sarah Catherine Hook: (Laughs) Oh my God, that’s, wow. I guess, thank you, I appreciate that. Wow. I would have to disagree because I love them, but thank you.
But at the same time, there’s a part of us as viewers that wants to see these characters make the most depraved choices just to see how it plays out. Is it a feast for an actor to be so deliciously cruel?
Zac Burgess: I mean, we don’t get to do that in real life. What I mean to say.
Sarah Catherine Hook: Exactly.
Zac Burgess: If we did, I think we would probably…
Sarah Catherine Hook: We’d be in prison!
Zac Burgess: No, it’s gold. It’s amazing to be able to dive into something so substantial and just fucked up.
Sarah Catherine Hook: But that’s exactly what you just said. Like, it’s a feast and we’re eating everything and causing havoc. It’s the best.
In terms of your performances and the direction you want to take your characters, tell me how you play against, and play with, the movie versions and kind of want to pay homage without copying and doing your own thing.
Zac Burgess: I had a really easy job. I haven’t seen the movie yet! (Laughter) I’ve seen little snippets here and there on YouTube, but it was a creative choice not to imitate them.
Sarah Catherine Hook: Right. And we were told from the beginning, “Don’t copy their performances.” Like, in the audition analysis, before the roles were even ours, it was to everyone who was auditioning: “Don’t copy.” I think at first you’re like, wait, what? How else am I supposed to do this? But then it’s much more rewarding and freeing from a creative standpoint to be able to come up with your own ideas and opinions about the character, and to be able to take those creative liberties to do that and give them a new voice and a new look and everything. more.
I was shocked even when they wanted me to be blonde. I thought, “But she’s a redhead in the movie! That doesn’t make sense!” Like, do you want her to be blonde? But even little touches like that, I feel like they were very strong. And even that just separates it from the film. We are very grateful to have been able to…
Zac Burgess: I didn’t know she was a redhead!
Sarah Catherine Hook: Well, she’s like, she’s a redhead, I should say. In truth. Maybe it’s dark brown. I don’t know.
Zac Burgess: I don’t know either.
Sarah Catherine Hook: You definitely don’t know! (laughter)
Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess on the “timeless present” of cruel intentions
“It’s set in the modern day, but still contains the elements of a story that’s been around for hundreds of years.”
It’s interesting because there’s something at the same time universal about people of this specific age, in this specific situation, where are the future leaders of America or something like that. But the story itself is hundreds of years old. Tell me a little about playing this very specific version of 2024 characters, archetypes that go back hundreds of years.
Sarah Catherine Hook: Yes, a good question and argument because what we’ve been saying about this is that this show is set in this timeless present. I, for one, am so happy that our showrunners decided not to really incorporate things like TikTok or even just being on our phones. They wanted our characters to be…
Zac Burgess: In this kind of timeless gift.
Sarah Catherine Hook: Yes. And not on our phones as much as possible. Like, if we had to make a phone call in character, that would be fine, but they didn’t want us to text each other a lot. Even if we were just waiting for another character to enter the scene, they would rather have me reading a book than texting on my phone. Like, they wanted it to be…
Zac Burgess: It takes the emphasis away from the actor.
Sarah Catherine Hook: Absolutely.
Zac Burgess: And you, instead of focusing on someone’s performance, you’re focusing on what’s happening on someone’s screen, which you can do at any given moment.
Sarah Catherine Hook: Yes. But it was great because it’s set in the modern day, but it still contains the elements of a story that’s been around for hundreds of years. I think they were very smart to emphasize that, to not modernize too much that it loses what the story really is and where it comes from.
Zac Burgess: It’s also an incredible and rare opportunity because, I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, there are seven archetypes that we can’t escape, seven core archetypes. And this is a world that really focuses on just one of them in the main part, it’s all about gaining power. It’s an incredible opportunity to be able to play with this.
Well said. And phones are for sex tapes. And that.
Zac Burgess: Yes, they are! Yes.
Sarah Catherine Hook: (laughs) That’s it. On our show? Exactly.
Zac Burgess: Absolutely. A little kink, a little fetish.
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 back soon for our others Cruel intentions interviews here:
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Savannah Lee Smith and Brooke Lena Johnson
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Sara Silva and Sean Patrick Thomas
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John Harlan Kim and Khobe Clarke
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Claire Forlani and Jon Tenney
Source: Screen Rant Plus