Sarah Michelle Gellar has spoken up on the Cruel Intentions reboot that never was, saying she was "grateful" it didn't make the air.
The Buffy actress played Kathryn Merteuil in the 1999 movie also starring Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair and Ryan Phillippe. Gellar reprised the role of the glamorous, conniving step-sister in the 2015 unaired pilot of a sequel series that was ultimately killed at NBC.
"I don't know. That was a whole crazy time," Gellar said in an interview with The New York Times.
Related: Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar reveals reasons behind break from acting
The actress explained that the concept and network didn't feel like a good fit to recreate the magic of the film.
"Nothing against NBC, but Cruel Intentions is straight streaming. On the first day, I was like, 'This isn't working'. It's just not a network show. And if it is a network show, it's not my Cruel Intentions. So, I was actually grateful."
A modernised version of 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, Cruel Intentions follows a group of wealthy teenagers of a private school in New York City. Gellar's Kathryn and her step-brother Sebastian (Phillippe) pull the strings behind a revenge and seduction scheme at the expense of Annette (Witherspoon) and Cecile (Blair).
Related: Sarah Michelle Gellar on the Cruel Intentions sex scene they couldn't make today
The series, set 17 years after the movie, was supposed to focus on Annette (Kate Levering taking over from Witherspoon) and Sebastian's teenage son Bash (Taylor John Smith) as he discovers his late father's journal.
Getting a glimpse of Sebastian's libertine past, Bash is determined to know more about his dad and moves to San Diego. There, he ends up caught in a world of lies, sex and manipulation.
After NBC passed, Sony shopped the project around but the cast's extended options were ultimately not renewed, meaning the sequel series would not move forward.
Last year, a new take on the story was announced at Prime Video, with Euphoria's Phoebe Fisher set to write the pilot alongside Gossip Girl's Sara Goodman. Neal H Moritz, known for producing the original Cruel Intentions film, is among the series' executive producers.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
