Brooke Lena Johnson‘s Cruel Intentions character didn’t exist in the movie, which allowed her to build Beatrice from scratch.
‘There’s pros and cons to all of it — but for me it’s great,” Johnson exclusively told Us Weekly about the TV adaptation, which premiered on Prime Video Thursday, November 21. “Because I’m not going up against anything else and I can just create this brand new world and perspective.”
Johnson enjoyed creating her own character while still taking inspiration from the 1999 film.
“There’s little aspects of each character that mine combines with — and I think I pulled certain traits from the original characters that I really liked and that fit Beatrice,” she explained. “It’s kind of a mix with this brand new character that really fights the system. I’m definitely the fighter of the show when it comes to that and will do whatever it takes.”
Playing the “outsider” allowed Johnson to stand out in her performance. “Everyone has their own power struggle in this show,” she noted to Us. “But I think mine comes from that point of view that relates to a couple of characters that were in that original. It is [this idea of the] outsiders within this world, and how do you fight against that from the outside? It was cool to just imagine a new scenario and a new person within this world.”
Based on a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos‘ novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the original Cruel Intentions film was released in 1999. The movie told the story of Annette (Reese Witherspoon), who became a pawn in a sexual conquest wager between stepsiblings Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) and Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar).
Multiple attempts to create a TV version resulted in two sequel films and an unaired pilot. Now Prime Video is getting the chance to conceptualize their own version with Sarah Catherine Hook, Zac Burgess and Savannah Lee Smith in the lead roles. Johnson, meanwhile, plays a fellow college student who is determined to bring about the end of sororities and fraternities at their Washington, D.C. school.
“Beatrice is a reporter, she works for the school journal and she fights for what she believes in. You see that right off the bat. She truly believes in what she’s fighting for but it comes from a lot of different places. She has been burned by this system in the past, and I think she is fighting to show everyone the truth about it,” Johnson teased. “But you see her go through a lot of vulnerability with it too. And she puts herself and her reputation on the line.”
According to Johnson, Beatrice is a perfect example of “what you’re willing to do, what you’re willing to sacrifice and who you’re willing to use to get where you want” in life.
“I think you walk this fine line the whole time with her and there’s a lot of gray area. But I do think she stands up for what she believes in and I really appreciate that about her,” the actress continued. “But she definitely falls on her face a lot and she definitely deals with a lot of obstacles. So I’m excited that at the end of the season she starts to kind of regain her footing a little bit again.”
Despite not recreating a character from the movie, Johnson was still a big fan of the Cruel Intentions universe.
“I most definitely had seen the movie quite a few many times. I remember really loving it because a lot of movies at the time were darker and mysterious. But Cruel Intentions was really taboo and sexy. It was very iconic for its time,” she gushed. “After finding out that I booked the role, I had to watch it five more times — especially with people that had never seen it.”
Johnson can’t wait for viewers to “relate” to Beatrice.
“There is always that struggle. [With Beatrice’s story], how much of it is the revenge plot and how much of it is the want and desire and need to fit into a world only to be rejected from it. Anyone who’s experienced that — which most people in this world have — are going to relate to that aspect of her,” she shared with Us. “I don’t think she would fight as hard as she does if she didn’t believe in the cause. It’s a mix of any human experience because there’s no good or bad.”
The best part for Johnson was playing a character who pushed the plot along, adding, “It’s an actor’s dream. Being a character-driven series, everyone is playing all these different pieces and I love that you can dive into it and see what everyone is doing before the other characters do. That is so fun and you see it unraveling and you’re just along for the ride.”
Cruel Intentions is now streaming on Prime Video.
