Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: Brooke Lena Johnson, cruel intentions, prime video

Cruel Intentions Star Johnson on 1999 Comparisons, Costars, Biopics

Brooke Lena Johnson spoke with us about her role in Prime Video's Cruel Intentions, her series costars, her love for Stevie Nicks, and more.

When Brooke Leena Johnson signed to play Beatrice Worth on the Prime Video drama Cruel Intentions, she knew she stumbled upon something special as a fan of the French 1988 original Dangerous Liaisons and its 1999 American counterpart Cruel Intentions from Roger Kumble that starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. The Prime Video series from Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman is based on the film with Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess stepping into the infamous stepsibling roles as Carline Merteuil and Lucian Belmont, respectively.

Cruel Intentions follows the stepsiblings as they try to maintain their status within their respective fraternity and sorority at the Washington DC college they attend when a college hazing ritual goes wrong. Johnson spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the series adapted to culture changes since the original 1999 film, the rapport she developed with her co-stars, and why she hopes to have a musical in the future.

Cruel Intentions Star Brooke Lena Johnson on How Times Changed Since 1999 Film, Costars, and 'Wicked' Inspiration for Fleetwood Mac Biopic

Bleeding Cool: Since the 1999 film that came out like 25 years ago, how do you compare the culture creatively then compared to different to now? Do you feel like you guys could get away with more compared to what they had to work with back then?

In a way, yes, because we assume with this show that people already know we're in a make-believe high society, a dark kind of world. When the movie came out originally in the '90s, people weren't expecting that taboo of scheming, especially with the stepsibling relationships and things like that. Since we came into it, people know what to expect with 'Cruel Intentions,' and the younger generation didn't. In ways, it's a little bit harder because of how our culture has shifted in the last 20-25 years.
Some things can be pushed a bit farther than others that can't and shouldn't be. That was cool to play with because Phobe and Sara built it in this timeline that was…I can't remember what they called it on set, but it was like a timeless kind of world. We're in a more current modern-day society, but we don't deal with social media the same way that we do in real life nowadays. It was this imaginary time, and when you're living in that, you can push the boundaries in a lot of different ways.

Can you break down the cast's dynamic, such as Sarah, Zac, Savannah [Lee Smith], Sara [Silva], and John [Harlan Kim]?

I worked the most with Isabella [Tagliati], who plays my right-hand person, Ella, on the show. What was cool about my character is I had a lot of different interactions with all these people. Zac and my characters, in general, have always had a sarcastic banter with each other and it carried over on and off set. The fighting and bickering scenes between us came naturally and we had fun with it because we got to poke at each other and that was cool.

Sarah Catherine and I have the exact opposite of what you see on set, where she and I are "two queen bees" in a sense at each other. When we're on set, it's all laughs and giggles. Savannah and I are close, and I love her dearly. She and I became great friends on the show, and it was so cool to work with her because we got to build a true friendship dynamic that you see on the show. Things came their way in a lot of the episodes, but you see them get back together at the end of the series (Note: US "seasons" are referred to as "series" in the UK), and that was cool for us.

I'm looking forward to bringing more stuff with her and, hopefully, season two. John is an absolute riot because he is probably the smoothest talker you will ever meet in your life! [laughs] He's got this silver-tongue thing going, not to mention he is eloquent and well-versed. As for the other actors I wish I worked with – Khobe [Clarke]. I share no scenes with him, but hopefully, that changes in season two.

You have a lot going on coming up here including the upcoming 'The Strangers: Chapter Two.' Are there other types of projects or genre work you hope to do in the future?

I certainly touched on the horror and thriller world, and love doing that. I have the intimate drama in 'Cruel Intentions.' I love to do some comedy because that would be fun, and ideally, in the future, I would love to do any A24 film. What they're doing is pushing the boundaries and I love everything they put out, very out of the norm.

They make filmmaking so nuanced and special because they're always pushing the boundaries on a lot of different aspects of society people relate to. I would love to make a musical film or TV series. I have a musical theater background, so I would love to incorporate that at some point. I'm inspired because 'Wicked' (2024) is out.

If anything, 'Wicked' shows musicals still work in theaters. Is there a particular one you hope to bring to life on screen?

I tell so many people this. I would love… love… love to be in a biopic of Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac and play her. That's one of my favorite bands growing up, and I love her story and something like that would be phenomenal. I love a lot of the biopics that dive into the musician's life. They're so interesting, so something like that is on the horizon of what I would love to do.

Speaking of Stevie, I think the most metal thing you could do in the music industry is sing a song about her ex in the band and then make them play the song along as you sing it.

Tell me about it! I would love to play a character like that. How amazing! I love that musicians do that, and the opportunity to be filmmakers, or creative in general, can do it.

Season one of Sony & MGM's Cruel Intentions, which also stars Sean Patrick Thomas, is available on Prime Video.

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