[This story contains spoilers from the first season of Prime Video’s Cruel Intentions.]
Was it exciting to return to Cruel Intentions?
It’s very exciting for me to come back and do Cruel Intentions after all this time.
The character that they’d written, Professor Chadwick, was something that was an exciting evolution from the Ronald-ish character from the movie.
Here’s the thing: I think that Professor Chadwick is written in such a way where race is not a factor.
[There are spoilers for the first season of Cruel Intentions on Prime Video in this story. [].
You most likely knew Sean Patrick Thomas if you were a young adult in the late 1990s.
The piercing-eyed, warm-eyed actor had established himself in YA drama success before he played Jimmy James in the Barbershop franchise, Detective Temple Page in the CBS police drama The District for four seasons, or, more recently, Gene Mobley, Mamie Till’s partner and Emmett’s father figure in Till.
He starred in movies like Save the Last Dance and Halloween: Resurrection during that time, which came after his iconic performance as Ronald Clifford in Roger Kumble’s Cruel Intentions. Prior to their relationship being destroyed by the vicious, cunning step-sibling pair of Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe), Thomas served as the music tutor to Cecile Caldwell (Selma Blair), a wealthy, gullible, and virginal woman.
A seasoned actor with more than 70 credits, including recent parts in popular shows like For All Mankind and Gen V, Thomas is making a comeback to the Cruel universe with the new Cruel spinoff on Prime Video. At Manchester College, a private and prestigious D.C, he plays Professor Chadwick, a history professor and the newest faculty member. -area college, where he has to deal with the educational caprices and gamesmanship of a cunning group of wealthy fraternity and sorority members.
He meets CeCe (Sara Silva), his new teaching assistant, shortly after he arrives, and she wears him down to get the position and boost her resume. Despite his initial reluctance to accept her assistance, Chadwick eventually comes to appreciate his TA’s nervous yet committed work ethic and her penchant for debate. This is a significant departure from Ronald and Cecile’s somewhat simple relationship in the 1999 movie.
Chadwick is kept physically and intellectually alert by this CeCe, which leads to more than the usual respect and admiration that can develop between a mentor and mentee. A possible romantic relationship between the two is tested by the end of the season when he is discovered sleeping with CeCe’s friend and sorority president, Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook). And in an attempt to exert control, Caroline plots to destroy Chadwick by anonymously accusing him of having inappropriate relationships with the college. This is similar to her 1999 counterpart.
Before the premiere of the show, Thomas talked to The Hollywood Reporter about his return to the Cruel Intentions universe, why a TV spinoff might not have been possible earlier, the romantic and intellectual relationship between his professor character and his teaching assistant, and the changes in opportunities for Black actors in the twenty-five years since Kumble’s film.
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Actors rarely get to revisit the world of a project they worked on 25 years ago, much less in such a novel way. Was going back to Cruel Intentions an exciting experience?
I’m really excited to return and perform Cruel Intentions after all this time. I’m still here, number one, which makes it rewarding on many levels. That full-circle moment has a symbolic meaning that truly resonates with me, even though this is a challenging business and I’m still here. In addition, I’ve grown into a much more seasoned actor and man than I was back then. Receiving another opportunity to work on this kind of material after gaining twenty-something years of experience is truly a gift and a treat.
There have been musicals, prequels, and sequels to the Cruel Intentions movie. However, it is the first television program to air. Why did you want to revisit the story?
Manchester Prep is a show from about 20 years ago that I was briefly involved with. I believe the problem with the Cruel Intentions and the Dangerous Liaisons universe is that it is so raw and intense that the entirety of it wasn’t really suitable for network television at the time. You can now do things that you couldn’t do back then, and we’re doing them on this show. Naturally, hearing that the show was coming up excited me. I had the opportunity to speak with the director, writers, and producers, and it was a perfect fit. The Ronald-like character from the film was an exciting development of the character they had written, Professor Chadwick. That was exciting, though, because it’s a different vibe.
Though there are some obvious similarities, Professor Chadwick is definitely a different character from Ronald Clifford. Was that deliberate, and in your opinion, what distinguishes Chadwick’s journey from Ronald’s?
It was exciting to watch the movie because, let’s face it, race was the main reason why these people couldn’t or should not be together. I can’t say whether this was intentional or not. It’s because she is a student and he is a professor in this version. What’s wonderful about that is that it suggests that perhaps we are a little bit better as a society now and don’t need to discuss race in that manner. I don’t know if we’re better now, but it suggests that we might be, to use my own words. Thus, we were able to set aside the issue of race and investigate other dynamics, such as the interactions between college students and their teachers. In that way, its forbidden nature is something entirely different, and it has to do with things that you can control rather than things that you can’t, which is far more intriguing in my opinion.
Although I believe that the potential cruelty of teenagers and young adults in the “coming of age” court is timeless, what do you think might be different about the cruelty in this version of the movie from the 1999 one?
Since things can go viral, I believe the cruelty in this version of the story is far more contemporary. When discussing something from 1999, the entire debate over what exactly the term “viral” meant simply did not exist. It does now, and in the modern era, you can just press a button to humiliate, shame, or ruin someone. That, in my opinion, takes the cruelty issue to a whole new level in terms of how it can be used to harm others.
This time around, the characters are also a bit older. How, in your opinion, do the stakes for these characters become more intriguing as the story gets a little older?
A whole new range of activities becomes possible when you bring these characters up to date enough to attend college. You can really delve a little deeper into the themes you’re examining when you’re able to expand your storytelling toolkit. These themes could include power imbalance or the popular history lesson that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”. When the characters are somewhat older but still young, you have more chances to do that.
Your character, Chadwick, becomes friends with his teaching assistant, CeCe (Sara Silva). Despite the power disparity and age gap, they manage their emotions with maturity. On the show, it’s possibly the healthiest relationship. What do you want viewers to learn or remember about that relationship?
Things can be done in two different ways: correctly and incorrectly. Because everyone else is doing everything incorrectly on this show, I like to see people try to do things correctly. I appreciate that this relationship stands in contrast to everything else; these two decent people are genuinely connected, and they want to make sure they approach it properly. They have no intention of harming one another or anyone else. My goal is for viewers to see that even in a world that can appear chaotic and cruel at times, it is possible.
Fascination with the history of fascism is an intriguing thread that nourishes their intellectual and romantic appeal. What do you think both of them find appealing about that topic?
(laughs) I genuinely believe that they are just political science nerds. I believe that they are both open to intellectual exploration, such as weighing the advantages and disadvantages of supporting fascism, for instance. They may be interested in fascism, but I’m not sure. I simply believe that they enjoy entertaining each other by arguing points of contention. They both find something exciting about that, and that’s where they bond. Their method of prodding, challenging, and thought-provoking one another is fascism.
Chadwick ends up in a similar situation to Ronald, who was caught having sex with Kathryn, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, by the end. In essence, Caroline (Sarah Catherine Hook) uses that to report him for acting inappropriately toward a student. It is difficult to overlook the racial dynamics of this moment for Ronald, even though you previously pointed out that his plot was more overtly about race. Was it deliberate, though?
The problem is that, in my opinion, Professor Chadwick is written in a way that ignores race. But when you put me and someone who resembles me in that role, things take a completely different turn. I absolutely agree with you that Professor Chadwick cannot simply worry about “Gosh, am I going to be able to keep my job?” He must also worry about “Am I going to be treated fairly because of the way I look, and is this a factor in how my case is going to be perceived?” I believe that this is just an added bonus of having a character who looks like me play the role, and it’s a great way to add more layers to an already problematic situation.
He finds himself in an intriguing position going into season two after Caroline endangered his relationship with CeCe and his reputation at the school. Have you discussed the possible direction of the show if you receive a second season with showrunners Sara Goodman and Phoebe Fisher?
Season two is unknown to me. I have no knowledge. We haven’t discussed it. Given how intelligent they are and how they appear to have a plan for everything, I assume that they have one. Therefore, I’m fairly certain that they have a story for Professor Chadwick that is locked and loaded. I simply haven’t listened to it yet.
The ways that Black characters have changed on screen in the YA genre are demonstrated by Chadwick and some of your other recent roles, such as Polarity on Gen V. These are the types of people that we might not have seen as prominently in the late 1990s, such as fathers and teachers. In the twenty years between your two Cruel Intentions projects, what do you think has changed for Black performers?
I find it exciting because I didn’t see it when I was a kid. I am a Black father on Gen V, and there are some intricacies that no other father-son relationship can understand. Being a Black father comes with some unique challenges that require certain approaches. You can’t just say, “Oh, this is just a dad and this is just a son,” when you’re telling a story. “I’m really, really proud that I’ve been given the opportunity to explore something very specific about a Black father and a Black son that has hardly ever been explored in TV and film.”. We go into that on a very, very deep level, especially with Gen V. Chance is no longer with us, and in season two, we delves deeply into what it means to be a Black man, what it’s like to have that kind of bond with your son, and what you can and cannot protect him from. In season two, we go into great detail about that.
Do you think there has been a significant or necessary shift for Black actors on sets or in movies during that time?
Although it’s not enough, I do feel like things are changing. Compared to my initial days in this company, the quality of the roles we currently receive is far higher. In my early days, the majority of the roles available to Black actors were comedic relief, sidekick roles, or portraying a menacing figure. There was no way you could get out of that box. You can now identify as gay, nerdy, or anything else you want. It’s incredible to be a Black actor because we represent the whole spectrum of human identity. It’s amazing that we’re beginning to see that with Black actors. Nevertheless, it is insufficient. The quality is insufficient. There are many Black things in the world, but they are not three-dimensional. It isn’t completely multifaceted. It doesn’t capture our entire spectrum of identity. Therefore, we now require quantity even though the quality is better.
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