‘Cruel Intentions’ TV Creators on Sex Scenes, Changing the Ending

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Cruel Intentions,” both the 1999 film and the entire first season of the new Prime Video series.” 

Twenty-five years later, “Cruel Intentions” will still make you blush.

The 1999 film about high-society stepsiblings Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) curing their privileged boredom by corrupting the last shreds of innocence in their peers feels both ahead of its time and like a movie that could never be made today. Littered with culturally insensitive language and driven by unbridled, often taboo sexuality, it was a cultural shock to the system in the waning days of the last millennium.

Replicating even a shred of that ethos was one of the many challenges facing this new version of the story.  But perhaps the tallest order for “Cruel Intentions” was making a timeless tale of striving for power through sex feel relevant and revolutionary in the era of Gen Z, a currently college-aged generation that has been vocal about their lack of interest in sex in film and on television. 

In the series, now streaming on Prime Video, viewers are once again introduced to a concerningly close pair of stepsiblings — sex-positive playboy Lucien (Zac Burgess) and control-hungry sorority president Caroline (Sarah Catherine Hook) — who rule the Greek life microcosm at Manchester University. Just like the film, they are wealthy and entitled to the point of wanting nothing, so they crave what they can’t have. In Lucien’s case, it is his stepsister. In Caroline’s case, it’s the thrill of having her stepbrother in the palm of her hand. So to make it interesting, they make a bet: If he can sleep with Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith), the vice president’s daughter who also happens to be the most notoriously virginal student in school and Caroline’s white-whale sorority pledge, then he can have his stepsister in all the ways he dreams. If she wins, she gets his vintage car and the satisfaction of his failure.

To sustain that story for potential future seasons, though, co-showrunners Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher had to go beyond the film’s foundations. First, they fleshed out characters that orbit the gruesome twosome at the center of “Cruel Intentions.” Cece (Sara Silva), a character originally played by Selma Blair in the film, now serves as Caroline’s ambitious but naive right hand in their sorority. Blaze (John Harlan Kim), inspired by a queer character originally played by Joshua Jackson, is now a leader in Lucien’s fraternity alongside their new president and his lover, Scott (Khobe Clarke). Sean Patrick Thomas plays Professor Chadwick, a good-natured educator who succumbs to his attraction to his teaching assistant, Cece. (Fans of the film will know Thomas originally played a similar role in the character of Ronald, a young music teacher who falls in love with Blair’s Cecile.)

But the biggest change necessary to keep “Cruel Intentions” alive beyond its big-screen predecessor was a new ending. In the film, Sebastian succeeds in his quest to sleep with Annette (Reese Witherspoon), the headmaster’s daughter. But despite the original reasons for his pursuit, he’s fallen in love with Annette, and tells Kathryn the bet is off. He has seemingly turned over a new leaf when he is killed in a car accident trying to save Annette. After his memorial service, Sebastian’s diary of conquests is published by Annette and Cece, exposing his and Kathryn’s cruelty to the world.

In the series, though, Lucien lives to deceive another day. After he and Annie sleep together, he confesses his duplicitous plan and ends their relationship out of some combination of guilt and fear. He also forfeits the bet with Caroline by lying and saying he failed, and then calling out all of her insecurities. But unlike Sebastian’s journal, Lucien’s conquests have been documented in the proverbial cloud as self-filmed sex tapes, which he periodically shares with Caroline for her, um, viewing pleasure. So to get back at him, Caroline releases his tapes to the entire university, unleashing her own brand of revenge porn.

But Lucien has one last move to play against his stepsister. In the season’s final moments, he sleeps with her mother and his stepmother (Claire Forlani), a cold-blooded woman who cuts her daughter down to size as frequently as she inappropriately flirts with her stepson. We don’t yet know what daddy dearest will have to say about this indiscretion, but something tells us Lucien’s heretofore-unseen parent knows a thing or two about this kind of sexual warfare. As his final revenge before the season cuts to black, Lucien seemingly sends Caroline a video of his dirty deed with her mother –– her reaction to which is teased only by a call that he sends straight to voicemail as he smugly drives off in victory.  

Following the season of backstabbing, Goodman and Fisher talked to Variety about honoring the horny reputation of “Cruel Intentions,” pushing back on network notes to curb the language that was so present in the movie — and teased who might show up should the show get a second season.

What was the biggest challenge in adapting the film? 

Sara Goodman: The biggest challenge was that, first of all, we are giant fans of the movie. We don’t want to alienate fans of the movie, but we also don’t want to do a remake of the movie. We want to do a show. So just like “Cruel Intentions” the movie was a version of “Dangerous Liaisons,” we are a version of the movie that has new characters, and a new setting in the Greek world that is just as privileged and exclusive and funny and sexy. But to make an ongoing series, you need to be able to create characters that have interior conflicts and exterior conflicts, and lots of dynamics between them. So we took all the things we loved in terms of the tone, and made a show with it that could stand on your own.

Was there anything about the movie that was hard to cut but didn’t suit the series framework?

Phoebe Fisher: Sure, I mean we can talk about the ending, which differs from the ending of the movie pretty significantly. But it is just a function of being an ongoing story. We aren’t quite done with Lucien yet, that’s all I can say.

You were both involved with Prime Video’s adaptation of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” What lessons did you learn on that series that helped you here?

Goodman: I loved “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” but I think that what everyone wanted from that was very different tonally from what the movie was. And I think we felt very, very strongly, as did Amazon and Sony, that we wanted this series to be much more in line with the movie. While you can’t sustain an ongoing series based on the story of a movie, you can use all of that delicious, despicable, sexy humor and make sure that it stays true to the original material. I feel very proud of what we did here, in terms of making sure that even if people are upset that it is a different story or different characters, well at least we are true to the “Cruel Intentions” pantheon. 

“Cruel Intentions” exists in a world of callous insensitivity, where people can say and do whatever they want without fear of consequence. But some of the film’s famously offensive language doesn’t make it into your show. For example, the film features multiple characters using variations of the derogatory word “faggot.” But in a scene in Episode 4 of this show, Scott simply says “f-slur” in a sentence. That’s certainly sanded down, so how did you find the authentic language of this show in 2024?

Goodman: It is an interesting question, because it is one of the fine lines we had to walk. We actually had that particular f-word earlier in the series. Rourke said it to Blaze in the premiere. Instead of “fucker” [which the viewers hears], he originally said the other one. We were asked to take it out [by the network], and we objected to that because we felt he would use that language. That is how Rourke would talk to Blaze. But Scott, on the other hand, is someone who doesn’t use any f-words, period. He would never say a bad thing about any person, so for Scott it felt natural for him to say “f-slur” because that is the way he talks.

Those were the choices that we really tried hard to make, choosing how the characters spoke to each other based on who they were and not based on what is culturally and socially acceptable because this is a world where things are said all the time that aren’t socially acceptable. And I think to pretend that they are not is wrong. People say such inappropriate things. This is “Cruel Intentions!” We want them to do that. But at the same time, Scott is not one of those characters.

Fisher: He’s a good boy!

Well, back to the language, it is interesting you had to fight for that word because in this upperclass world, that type of language is a reflection of the institution of tradition. Language like that is used by these privileged people because it has always been used by them.

Goodman: Exactly. I mean, we lost that one, as you hear in the show, but we won some other ones. It is an interesting thing to make a show in this day and age where you do have characters that speak like that, and you don’t want to take it away because it is speaking about the world we’re living in and how they see other people.

Fisher: And I think, in coming up with the way that they all talk, there is kind of a shared language. It is almost like they all have almost the same accent. Or the same reference pool.

Just as a side note on Scott, please give the poor boy a nice boyfriend in Season 2. He deserves it after dealing with Blaze all season.

Goodman: Listen, he is really just figuring it out in a real way! We had some push back on that too, that Scott honestly didn’t know [he liked men] and that he wasn’t defined and he wasn’t just in the closet. He really didn’t know this about himself, but that was so important to us to be able to let him figure it out in real time. To me, that is honest. We have such a soft spot for Scott. He is the heart of this show. And we love Khobe.

Fisher: His character has such an amazing arc of discovery, and I think that continuing that arc into another season would be really fun.

A recent report said that Gen Z wants less sex in their television, but “Cruel Intentions” is famous for its unencumbered horniness. Similar to the language, how do you honor the spirit of this film’s unapologetic sexuality without turning off that generation represented within it?

Fisher: It is a fine line making sure that where the sex was included, it felt driven by the story and it belonged in the story, and wasn’t excessive or for the sake of shock value.

Goodman: I think the other thing is, these are characters that use everything in their arsenal to get power and gamesmanship, and sex is one of those things. So we aren’t showing sex because we think it is sexy. This is a game to them. This is a power play. You know, I don’t want to say that where there is actual love there is no sex in this story, but we use sex the way we use everything else in the show –– to get what we want. To not use it feels disingenuous.

Most of the sex scenes in your show involve Lucien, who certainly wields it as a form of power in the way you are referencing. Obviously, that comes back to bite him in the finale when Caroline distributes his cache of sex tapes to the entire university. Was it always intentional to have Lucien be more sexually present than other characters?

Goodman: Absolutely. I think we were very character specific, and Lucien uses sex as a numbing cream. I mean, I have an ice pack on my back right now, and sex for him is like that.

Fisher: An emotional ice pack!

Goodman: An emotional ice pack, yes, but also when he doesn’t want to feel things like when he is bored. Lucien uses sex in a different way. Caroline uses sex in a different way. When we show those things, we want them to inform the character and inform how they get power in the world. To show sex just for shock value, I think maybe that’s where Gen Z has a problem. Maybe they are saying it is boring when it is just for that. At least, I hope that’s what they are saying. Because if they are just saying sex is bad, then I’m not on board!

Was this something you had to have constant conversations about as you are creating this show? Kind of taking the temperature of each scene, if you will.

Goodman: We did, and I think Sony and Amazon trusted us. We could back up why we were doing what we were doing, and sometimes that annoys you as a creator. But sometimes it also makes you have to think through why it is important to you. Like why saying the actual f-word is important to that character. And why fucking is important!

Did you ever have to go to bat for a specific sex scene or scale one back based on notes from the higher ups?

Fisher: I don’t think so. For us, it was always about keeping that titillation alive but without being graphic for the sake of being graphic. And so I think we really preserved that and didn’t really have to compromise.

Goodman: I think we got what we wanted.

Speaking of getting what you want, you got Sean Patrick Thomas back into this world in a similar, but somewhat grown-up role. What about Sean felt like he could bridge the film and TV versions of this story?

Fisher: We were so excited that Sean could be part of this iteration of the story, because I think that character, specifically, we really wanted to see more of and see an expansion of what that relationship really is between him and Cece. It is not the same character, obviously. It is our newer version of it, but I think that was a thing that attracted us to him.

Goodman: But also, that was the end of his story in the film. He was a prop, he was used. But in Season 2, it would definitely not be the end of his story. It was very appealing to us to have whatever redemption or punishment or whatever is coming for him. And we gave him that ex-wife who used him as well. It was really important to us to build a real, full character for him who has that conflict.

You changed the very famous ending of the movie, which left Ryan Phillippe’s character dead and his black book of conquests published for the world to see. But your character, Lucien, is alive. What does “Cruel Intentions” look like now that it has graduated from the film’s framework? What might Caroline have to say to Lucien if he ever picks up the phone? 

Goodman: I don’t know. What do you think she is going to say? Why do you think she’s calling? And Annie’s also calling, so what is she calling about? Maybe more importantly, where is Lucien going?

Fisher: Is there really any way for him to come back from this? I don’t think so.

Goodman: And what is his dad going to say when he finds out? And what is he really going back to at the fraternity house? They are raiding his room. You’ll have to see, but let’s just say that money can still buy you out of a lot of problems.

Fisher: Money can buy you a new room, but can it buy you a new father?

So it is safe to say that, if you do get a Season 2, we will see Lucien’s father come into play?

Goodman: Oh, yes. 

Fisher: We love a father figure.

Are you open to reaching out to other actors from the movie to appear in future seasons? 

Goodman: I think if there is an organic way, sure. But they are so much their characters from the movie, much more than Sean was that character. There is so much iconography around those other characters that they would have to play those characters, and they would have to find an organic way into our world. If that can happen, I don’t think anything is off the table.

So what you are saying is the original actors might not appear in your series, but at least you haven’t abandoned sex.

Goodman: Yes! If you can take anything from our show, it is that sex is alive and well. 

This interview has been edited and condensed.