When Cruel Intentions came out in 1999, it cast Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe in a hyper-sexual light that was slightly uncomfortable, given their characters were all teenagers. (Even though the actors were all in their 20s.) But NBC’s upcoming TV pilot continuation doesn’t have to worry about that, and Gellar has made it perfectly clear with a new pic from the set that will make you want to dive in headfirst. And I’m not exactly talking about the bathtub.
I think I used up all of Cinema Blend’s “Hubba Hubba” supply with this Instagram post, so I’m hoping our regular supplier can get back to us soon.
Amusingly playing up how hard her job is at that very moment, Sarah Michelle Gellar is in top form here, and I can’t imagine that glass only has water in it. Unless it’s being used in a scene and it actually does have only water in it. But then why didn’t the water evaporate being that close to Gellar’s hotness? Also, is it still called “leering” if it’s in written form?
All that aside, it’s clear that Gellar’s character Kathryn Merteuil hasn’t lost a step in the years since her step-brother Sebastian was hit by a car. I don’t want to cast assumptions here, but I don’t think anyone who wears a dress with that deep of a V-neck is interested in bowling tournaments or neighborhood scrapbooking meet-ups. There is a mission behind those eyes, and it’s one that she won’t take lying down. At least, not after she gets out of the tub.
In NBC’s Cruel Intentions, Kathryn is now married to a wealthy man and is running a youth program while attempting to gain power over the private school Valmont International. Her life is thrown into disarray at the reemergence of Annette Hargrove, whom she’d wronged as a teen, and Annette and Sebastian’s son Bash Casey (Taylor John Smith). (Hargrove was played by Reese Witherspoon in the film, but was recast in the series with Drop Dead Diva actress Kate Levering.) Bash stumbles upon a hidden journal that contains much of his father’s debaucherous legacy, and he soon finds himself in a power-hungry world of sex and money. And it probably won’t help that Kathryn sets her sights on the boy for her own nefarious means.
We knew that Sarah Michelle Gellar was going to nail this from day one, but it’s great to see she’s doing it with style and pizzazz that The Crazy Ones just couldn't offer. There’s no telling when NBC will make a decision on whether or not to add the Cruel Intentions pilot to its other upcoming projects, but we’ll be waiting with bated breath.
