“This incarnation is a feminist perspective on the era”: Paloma Faith, Carice van Houten and Kosar Ali on Dangerous Liaisons

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 1782 novel has had many incarnations on screen: for some, the first that springs to mind will be Stephen Frears’s iconic, Oscar-winning 1988 all-star cast version featuring Glenn Close, John Malcovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves. For others, it will be the 90s era-defining contemporary twist on the story that’s since earned cult status, Cruel Intentions, with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Philippe and Reese Witherspoon.

Now this tale of love and revenge among the French nobility is being revived for a new generation, bringing the diversity and raunchiness today’s audiences have come to expect in costume dramas in the wake of Bridgerton. The plot of the Lionsgate+ series actually predates the novel’s timeline in an origin story of sorts, following the exploits of a young Camille (Alice Englert) and Valmont (Nicholas Denton), in a society where sex and seduction become tools of power, control and the means to climb the social ladder, against the backdrop of a pre-revolution France. Viewers can expect steamy romance, towering 18^th-century wigs to rival those worn by Kirsten Dunst in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, and plenty of lust and anger in a melodramatic take on Choderlos de Laclos’s saga.

The Upcoming spoke to some of the show’s cast and creatives ahead of it landing on the streaming platform. British pop singer-turned-actress Paloma Faith told us about playing the gossipy Florence de Régnier, putting a feminist spin on the age-old tale of passion and deception, and the difficulty of getting down to it when wearing a huge dress and corset. 

Carice van Houten and Kosar Ali told us about their characters (Jacqueline de Montrachet and Victoire), and how familiar they were with the source material and previous adaptations of the French classics.

Series creators Colin Callender and Harriet Warner then explained why they wanted to revisit the story in a prequel and how they went about evoking the era in sumptuous detail.

Sarah Bradbury

Dangerous Liaisons is released on Lionsgate+ on 6^th November 2022.

Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for Dangerous Liaisons here: