Why Zac Burgess Didn't Watch 'Cruel Intentions' After Joining TV Adaptation

Zac Burgess plays a version of Ryan Phillippe‘s Cruel Intentions character in the TV adaptation — but chose not to watch the movie for inspiration.

“I sit in a bit of a unique position. I haven’t seen the movie,” Burgess, who plays Lucien in Prime Video’s TV version of the romance thriller, exclusively told Us Weekly. “So I was a little bit fortunate that it was more of a purposeful choice.”

Burgess noted that he didn’t want his scenes to feel too similar to Phillippe, 50, adding, “I didn’t want to replicate Ryan’s performance because it is a cult classic and he did such a wonderful job the first time. It’s a new chapter to the series.”

Cruel Intentions is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos‘ novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses. A film version was released in 1999 with Sarah Michelle Gellar playing Kathryn — who is based on the Marquise de Merteuil — while Phillippe was Sebastian a.k.a the Vicomte de Valmont. Reese Witherspoon, meanwhile, portrayed Annette Hargrove and that character pulled inspiration from Madame de Tourvel. The story follows Annette as she becomes a pawn in Sebastian and Kathryn’s diabolical wager of sexual conquest.

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Plans for a TV adaptation of the film started in 1999, which ultimately became the 2000 sequel Cruel Intentions 2. There was another attempt in 2015 with a pilot — with Gellar reprising her role — that was never picked up before Prime Video announced their Cruel Intentions series.

The upcoming show, which premieres on Thursday, November 21, replaces a New York prep school for a Washington D.C college where the two manipulative step siblings, now named Lucien and Caroline, are ready to do anything to maintain their status. Alongside Burgess is Sarah Catherine Hook, who is taking on Gellar’s part, while Witherspoon’s character is being played by Savannah Lee Smith.

“When you’re handed something that is written so beautifully, I think [connections] are bound to happen,” Burgess told Us about accepting the torch from Phillippe. “With every character that an actor gets to play, every actor has a different method. But you have to find some element of yourself to bring forward and you either amplify it or you reduce it.”

Burgess found himself connecting to Lucien, adding, “I definitely found myself amplifying a few things, but there’s also a few details that were close to home. It was just a beautiful thing to be able to work through.”

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During the joint interview with Us, Khobe Clarke also reflected on his approach to the role of Scott.

“As the actor, you can never judge the character. It’s kind of a big rule right after not looking at the lens,” he quipped. “Also with Scott, there’s many elements to him that I share so he didn’t feel super far away. I could tap into him quite easily.”

Clarke’s character didn’t exist in the original film — which worked in his favor.

“I felt lucky that I got to play an original character. It took a bit of that weight off — as I’m sure it was hard for the rest of my cast,” he noted. “It would’ve been interesting to play one of the characters from the original movie because it’s always fun to see what new ways you can take a stab at something that’s already been done so well. But I liked not having anything to stay loyal to.”

Cruel Intentions premieres on Prime Video Thursday, November 21.