The Cruel Intentions TV series has found its main cast. The Prime Video series is an adaptation of the 1999 cult film starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Reese Witherspoon. The film was set in an elite Manhattan prep school and was centered around two twisted step-siblings and the wager they make involving the headmaster’s daughter. And the series will be set in Washington, D.C. with Greek life being thrown into the mix, a hazing gone wrong, and seducing the daughter of the Vice President of the United States.
Sounds just about as twisted as the OG film honestly.
Sarah Catherine Hook, who was recently in the beloved show First Kill, will play Caroline Merteuil. She’s “the queen of everything — or at least the queen of Delta Phi.” Basically she’s this versions Kathryn Merteuil, played by Gellar in the film. Zac Burgess, who is an up-and-coming actor, is set to play Lucien, Caroline’s stepbrother. He’s the equivalent of Sebastian Valmont from the OG film. And Myra Molloy, who is also pretty new to the business, plays Annie. She’s the model student and respectable type. Oh, and the daughter of the Vice President. Basically, she’s Witherspoon’s Annette Hargrove.
The cast for Cruel Intentions is rounded out with Sara Silva, John Harlan Kim, Khobe Clarke, Brooke Lena Johnson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Laura Benanti, and John Tenney. Silva will portray Cece, Caroline’s right hand. Kim will be playing Blaise, a frat boy who using his knowledge to his advantage. Clarke is set to play Scott, a frat recruit. Johnson will be playing Beatrice, a reporter at the school paper and someone who wants to shut down Greek life. Benanti plays Claudia, with no extra details on her character. And Tenney plays Congressman Russell. And Thomas, who was in the OG film as Ronald Clifford, is set to play Professor Chadwick.
Talking about OG’s, Gellar doesn’t seem to be involved in the TV series. In 2016 NBC tried to do a TV adaptation that was set 17 years after the film and starred Gellar. NBC opted not to buy the series and the pilot never saw the light of day. When asked about the series while doing promo for her movie, Do Revenge she said, “Nothing against NBC, but Cruel Intentions is straight streaming. On the first day, I was like, ‘This isn’t working.’ It’s just not a network show. And if it is a network show, it’s not my Cruel Intentions. So, I was actually grateful.”
Maybe now that it’s in streaming, she’ll change her mind? Stranger things have happened so here’s hoping she’ll do a guest spot if anything else.
Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman are going to be writing the series with Sony Pictures Television, Amazon Studios, and Original Film. And it’s set to air on Prime Video.
Cruel Intentions is set to air on Prime Video.
