Sarah Michelle Gellar knew the Cruel Intentions reboot was doomed from day one
Gellar says she's grateful the ill-fated NBC sequel series didn't work out
Once upon a time, there were several attempts to recapture the magic of Cruel Intentions: a prequel movie (starring Amy Adams, of all people, as Kathryn Merteuil); a third sequel film that moved away from the original characters; a jukebox musical; and an NBC series, one which would have brought Sarah Michelle Gellar back as the conniving Kathryn.
The television show never came to pass, and for Gellar, that’s a good thing. “That was a whole crazy time,” she tells The New York Times in a new interview. “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.”
The actor isn’t sure she’d want to revisit Cruel Intentions again, but her Kathryn lives on within her Do Revenge character–Gellar confirms she “absolutely” played the headmaster as an older Kathryn. “I always say, I wonder what Kathryn’s doing now? Who does that person become? But we really wanted her to be a champion of women, too. She is building women up for what you have to face as a female.”
But unlike Camila Mendes’ Drea, a clear Kathryn acolyte, Gellar doesn’t think her teen queen mean girl would have gotten a happy ending. “I think that not everything in life gets wrapped up with a happy bow. There was never going to be a happy ending because I don’t think she would allow herself to have it,” she says. “The youth of today look at it differently. They feel like they deserve the happy ending, and thus, they will go out and get it. I think that’s a really positive thing.” Maybe it’s finally time to close the book on Cruel Intentions (unless that Amazon Freevee reboot ever gets off the ground).