Get ready for love, war, and queerness in the upcoming bodice-ripping-and-betrayal series Dangerous Liaisons.
During a panel at the Summer TCA press tour on Thursday, the cast and team behind the upcoming Starz series discussed how queerness factors into this tale of forbidden love.
Dangerous Liaisons is a prelude to the classic 18th century novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos which has famously been adapted for screen many times, including in the modernized film version, Cruel Intentions. This all-new series follows the first meeting and passionate affair of Camille (Alice Englert) and Valmont (Nicholas Denton), who become young lovers in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution.
“This modern take on a classic story takes audiences through wonder and terror, beauty and degradation, seduction and deception in pre-revolutionary Paris. Driven to right the wrongs of their past, the young couple’s survival depends on their skills of seduction and manipulation of not only the French nobility but of each other... Their on-again-off-again love story is the heart of the series. It’s not love... it’s war,” the logline reads.
And what would a story about forbidden love be without queerness. Thankfully, both its star Englert and showrunner Harriet Warner can confirm LGBTQ+ representation is present in the series.
“Well, I’m queer,” Englebert laughs while sharing with PRIDE. ”That always plays a role for me.”
“I’m with you, Alice,” adds Warner. “I mean very happily a prolific [queer person] and all things are celebrated.”
“I feel like Camille is queer like myself,” Englebert reveals. “I think we sort of talked about it ourselves at some points... you’ll see but there’ll be more,” she hedges.
Along with textually queer characters, Warner talks about how this series is intrinsically queer. ”The really exciting thing about the show is the blowing apart of constraints and conforming to gender stereotypes. I think it’s a really bold reimagining of the world of Dangerous Liaisons,” she says. “And, yeah, there’s a fluidity to our world and characters.”
Dangerous Liaisons premieres on Starz on November 6. Watch the teaser trailer below.
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