Prime Video’s new series Cruel Intentions is a modern retelling of the 1999 movie that starred Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Philippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. “They took on these roles and took this kind of dark, twisted, almost sexy turn to it,” Brooke Lena Johnson — who plays Beatrice Worth in the new series — tells Her Campus. “Being a part of this new reimagining of it is so exciting.”
Now, 25 years later, Johnson is bringing that original Cruel Intentions aesthetic to the small screen, with a brand new setting and cast of characters. Johnson’s Beatrice is a student attending the fictional Manchester College, who is determined to take down Greek life and expose its scandalous happenings behind closed doors. “The university setting is perfect because it’s the first time most people are leaving home, and trying to navigate their own lives, and trying to find their place in a university society,” Johnson says. “They’re trying to be adults and they’re trying to be like ‘I know what the best thing to do is.’”
Like Beatrice, Johnson wasn’t part of Greek life while she attended college herself at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), so stepping into this role was something “very new and kind of profound” to her. “I love being this character,” Johnson says. “Being able to create this new persona of a person and dive into how I think they navigate the world, and especially this Greek life world, was really fun.”
Not being part of Greek life wasn’t the only part of Johnson’s life that mirrored that of Beatrice. “She’s very outspoken and knows what she wants. That outspokenness and that drive that she has, I definitely feel like I have in me. That part of it was easy to pull from,” Johnson says. “Now, the dark dynamics to get there and what she uses to navigate that? I don’t know if we have that in common, but I do think her drive, her want, and her searching for the truth and the good of that, I relate to her.”
While Beatrice’s main focus in the show is to go against Greek life, this isn’t her full story. Beatrice actually tried joining a sorority — Delta Phi Pi — but was rejected. This led to a rivalry between Beatrice and Caroline (Sarah Catherine Hook), the president of Delta Phi Pi. “They have this power struggle with each other with Beatrice being on the outside, trying to take the Greek life system down. Caroline is always trying to combat that. She’s always trying to hide what’s really going on in the system,” Johnson says. “Even if we’re not in the same room fighting against each other, there’s still that power struggle between us.”
Throughout the show, there’s a constant battle for control and power that all the characters face. “It’s not all just good guy, bad guy. [The cast is] pretty unpredictable, and there’s these complexities that you see in everybody and the internal battles that they’re dealing with,” Johnson says. “That’s what takes you on this journey. You don’t know where you’re going to end up, and who’s going to be by your side through it.”
With Cruel Intentions now out on Prime Video, Johnson wishes for fans to immerse themselves in the complexities of the show. “I hope that they can just dive deep into this world of the ruthlessness and this scandal that everyone lives in,” she says. “I hope that they can see this dark and sexy — and a little bit taboo — theme, and navigate through that world, and join us along that rollercoaster ride.”
