If the “Cruel Intentions” Cast Were Latinx
The 1999 seminal masterpiece “Cruel Intentions” is one of those teen moves that affected a generation. It also arguably influenced every teen movie that came after it. The secrets and the intrigue, the lies and the deception–this movie had everything that teenagers are hard-wired to love. The story follows step-siblings Sebastian and Kathryn as they plot to manipulate and seduce young women for their own amusement. Unfortunately, their machinations have dire consequences.
And although we love “Cruel Intentions”, we can’t help but roll our eyes now at the lack of diversity within its cast. Every character (with one notable exception) is depicted by a white actor. This casting choice may have been par for the course in the ’90s, but it’s problematic now. With that in mind, and on the eve of “Cruel Intentions” 20th anniversary, we’ve re-imagined the cult classic film with an all-Latinx cast. Take a look below!
1. Ana de Armas as Kathryn Merteuil
Kathryn Metreuil is a complex character, to say the least. Not only does she create a bet with her stepbrother where the prize is her body, but she has a drug problem and an obvious lack of self-worth. We would love to see Cuban actress Ana de Armas take a stab at this role.
2. Ana de Armas recently appeared in “Blade Runner 2049” as Joi, a holographic girlfriend
De Armas has the perfect angelic face along with a mischievous glint in her eye to pull off the complicated role of the diabolical anti-hero Kathyrn Merteuil. And from her acting resume, we know she’s not afraid to take on controversial parts.
3. Ray Diaz as Sebastian Valmont
Sebastian Valmont is Kathryn’s stepbrother. A notorious womanizer, he aims to bed the virginal Annette Hargrove both because she’s vocal about her morals and because she’s the Headmaster’s daughter. Cuban-American actor Ray Diaz is handsome enough to fill Phillipe’s shoes.
4. Diaz was a series regular on the show “Lopez” and moonlights as a content creator and influencer
Diaz would be perfect for this role, considering he has the devlish good looks that could seduce even the prudest of conquests. You may know him as Hector from the show “Lopez”, or maybe you’ve seen some of his hilarious videos on Instagram.
5. Selena Gomez as Annette Hargrove
In “Cruel Intentions”, Annette Hargrove is the moralistic and virginal character that Sebastian views as his ultimate conquest. His downfall begins when he falls in love with her. We can totally imagine Selena Gomez rocking this role.
6. Like Witherspoon, Gomez exudes vibes of kindness and intelligence
The through-line in her career, from “Wizards of Waverly Place” to “Spring Breakers” has been the sweet, sensible girl who sometimes gets in over her head. Need we say more? Like Witherspoon, Gomez definitely has the “America’s Sweetheart” thing going for her.
7. Isabela Moner as Cecile Caldwell
Cecile Caldwell is the naive and sheltered prep school student who is collateral damage to the Valmont-Merteuil siblings when her mother gets on Sebastian’s bad side.
8. The role of Cecile would be perfect for Moner, a former childstar who is now cutting her teeth on more serious roles
Peruvian-American Moner got her start playing CJ Martin in Nicklodeon’s “100 Things to Do Before High School”. Who better to play good-girl-gone-bad Cecile?
9. Jake T. Austin as Blaine Tuttle
In “Cruel Intentions”, Blaine Tuttle acts as one of Sebastian’s only friends. He helps Sebastian seduce and blackmail a closeted jock in order to extract information.
10. We’d love to see Austin playing this edgy role
Like Joshua Jackson, who was famous for playing Pacy on “Dawson’s Creek”, Austin is primarily known for playing Selena Gomez’s kid brother on Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”. This would be the perfect opportunity for him to play a role against type.
11. Tristan Mack Wilds as Ronald Clifford
The character Ronald Clifford is Cecile Caldwell’s music teacher, whom he shares a mutual attraction with. Naturally, he’s used as a pawn in Kathryn and Sebastian’s schemes. Cuban-American actor Tristan Mack Wilds would slay this role, already having cut his teeth on teen soaps like the “90210” reboot.
12. Lana Parrilla as Bunny Caldwell
In “Cruel Intentions”, Mrs. Caldwell’s racism keeps her daughter, Cecile, and Ronald apart. Lana Parrilla, an actress of Puerto-Rican descent, has the requisite upper-crust vibe about her necessary to play snobby WASP Bunny Caldwell.
13. Michael Trevino as Greg McConnell
We can totally picture Mexican-American actor Michael Trevino as Annette’s closeted ex-boyfriend, Greg McConnell. He has the perfect blend of machismo and vulnerability to play a character who’s afraid to come out because of what it could do to his football career.
14. Ryan Guzman as Court Reynolds
We’d love to see Mexican-American actor Ryan Guzman as Kathryn’s ex-boyfriend who dumped her for Cecile. Guzman is definitely good-looking enough to drive a girl to some crazy behavior. Not to mention, like the original actor, he’s too beefy and manly to convincingly play a teenage boy.
15. Judy Reyes as Dr. Greenbaum
We know from Reyes’ work on the cult series “Scrubs” that she has the comedic chops to play the role of Sebastian’s thwarted therapist, Dr. Greenbaum.
16. Isabella Gomez as Marci Greenbaum
Although this is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role, we’d still love to see a powerhouse actress like Isabella Gomez flex her tear ducts on this melodramatic bit part. Marci Greenbaum is Dr. Greenbaum’s unlucky daughter who is manipulated by Sebastian into posing for naked pictures (which he then leaks online, of course).
17. Roselyn Sánchez as Mrs. Michalak
As Mrs. Michalak, Annette’s protector and family friend, we can’t think of anyone we’d love to see play this part more than Roselyn Sánchez of “Devious Maids” fame.
18. Ivonne Coll as Helen Rosemond
You may know Ivonne Coll primarily as Alba on “Jane the Virgin”, but wouldn’t you also love to see her as Sebastian’s wealthy Aunt Helen? We know we would!
19. Ana Mercedes as Mrs. Sugarman
You may have seen Ana Mercedes as Veronica’s Abuelita on “Riverdale”. We think she’d be great as the sweet, but forgetful, Mrs. Sugarman, another one of Sebastian’s unfortunate pawns in his scheme to seduce Annette.
20. Ricardo Chavira as Headmaster Hargrove
Although we never get to see Annette’s father, Headmaster Hargrove, in the flesh, in our dream version, her father would play a larger role. Who better to fill the shoes of an educated, authoritative father figure than journeyman actor Ricardo Chavira?
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