‘Game of Thrones’ Alum Carice van Houten Gets Drenched By a Bucket of Blood in ‘Dangerous Liaisons’
Carice van Houten on creating the new character Jacqueline de Montrachet in the ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ prequel airing on STARZ.
STARZ’s Dangerous Liaisons is a prequel to the 18th century novel that tells the origin story of how author Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ iconic characters, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, met as passionate young lovers in Paris on the eve of the revolution, and it delves into the terror, degradation, seduction and deception in pre-revolutionary Paris that led to their exploits.
As a prequel, several new characters join the story, among them is Jacqueline de Montrachet (played by Game of Thrones alum Carice van Houten), a woman in a loveless marriage to a noble, who has devoted herself to God and become one of the most pious women in Paris.
It leaves her ripe for the plucking when she becomes the target of a bet by Camille (played by Alice Englert), a young woman who was taken in by the current Marquise de Merteuil (played by Lesley Manville) and then discarded, who challenges Pascal Valmont (played by Nicholas Denton) to seduce Jacqueline in order to curry her favor.
“I like that she was not an existing character,” van Houten tells Parade. “Of course, there are similarities to the character in the Dangerous Liaison movie that most people have in their minds, Michelle Pfeiffer’s character. I think this is a bit linked to that character, but I was very glad to make this character be a new one."
We first see Jacqueline through Camille’s eyes, and so she comes across at the beginning as quite stern, distant, and closed up. But van Houten says she’s more complex than first meets the eye.
“There’s a very damaged woman that I feel like you won’t see at the beginning, but it will unravel itself,” she continues. “She’s a woman with a big secret, a depressed woman. You meet her basically depressed.”
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Again, seeing her from Camille’s point of view, Jacqueline is painted as a villain, but as the story plays out, it turns out that that assessment may not be accurate. One clue could be that Jacqueline only dresses in white, which normally is the color saved for the heroine, but then there is a shocking moment when Camille throws pigs blood on Jacqueline, which enables Valmont to come to her rescue and the two to get closer.
But the pigs blood dripping on her exquisite white clothing is a shock, especially as the action may have been undeserved.
“It was a good scene though,” van Houten admits. “What I really like about the show is that it’s never what you think it is. Life isn’t black and white, obviously, but I think these characters also come across a certain way and then you find out there’s so much more underneath. I think there is a very good side to Jacqueline, she’s a very giving person but completely suppressed.”
STARZ
One thing that Dangerous Liaisons does do with Camille, Jacqueline, the Marquise de Merteuil, and the other women in the story is show how despite their place in society, they all are connected by having to live with the code of the time, which was men were their masters.
“Whether you were high society, low society, wherever you are, you have to fight your way out of this patriarchal society,” van Houton says. “So, I think she is mostly a very depressed woman, who believes if she says one thing wrong, she’ll go to the nuthouse. So, she cannot bloom until she meets Valmont basically. That’s when something sparks in her again, some sort of life. And of course, I won’t tell you how that ends.”
Dangerous Liaisons was written in 1782. Why do you think this story still intrigues us?
I think it is a bit like Shakespeare, it’s for everyone. There are so many characters. It is about society in all its glory and in all its craziness, so I think we can still identify with some of the characters. And also, there’s big themes. There’s betrayal, there’s sex, there’s power, there’s love, there is humor in this show, definitely. And it’s told through a female’s eyes, and I think that’s the new angle.
Seduction is a big part of the story, but as you mentioned, so is love. Do you think the game of love has changed since the 18th century? Or do you think that part of the appeal of this is that we’re still doing the same things today?
I think we are still doing the same things, and that’s why it is appealing. Some things will never, ever change, it’s human nature. Of course, now we don’t write letters anymore, we send really quick brief emails and text messages. It’s way more direct and we see much more, so we don’t have to wait three weeks. Let someone wait for three weeks to answer a WhatsApp message and they’ll be in trouble. But I don’t think the love game will ever really change.
In addition to this being a story about love and passion, it’s also a story about revenge. What is your take on revenge? You know, there’s that saying, “revenge is a dish best served cold.” Or do you maybe not believe in revenge at all?
I don’t believe in revenge or in regrets for that matter. I think revenge is a very poisonous, I don’t know if it’s an emotion but it’s a state of mind, I guess, that I’ve never believed in. And I don’t think I’ve acted on it either. It just is not on my palate. And I don’t want to come across like, “Oh, I’m so holy,” but it’s just not my go-to emotion.
Same with regrets. I feel that everything happens for a reason. I’m here because all these other things that didn’t go right happened to me, and therefore, life is a game, is a lesson. Yeah, regrets, I don’t believe in.
Are you saying if you accept all the good things that happen to you then you have to accept the others as well because they brought you to where you are?
Yes, and in the bad stuff, sometimes there’s hidden gifts in there that we can’t immediately see because we like to see things in good and bad. But sometimes in the darkest of times this is where your creativity sometimes sparks the most. I think Deepak Chopra calls it the gap between moments where you’re in an insecure pocket. This is where stuff happens, and you have to pay attention to those moments. I’m sorry, I’m getting too philosophical.
Maybe Valmont is maybe one of those hidden gifts.
I think so, yeah. It definitely is a catalyst.
Both Game of Thrones and Dangerous Liaisons are epic costume dramas. Is that appealing to you as an actress to be able to don these outfits that we no longer wear now, or in Game of Thrones maybe never wore, and just immerse yourself in these worlds?
Yes, it’s that childlike fantasy thing where you’re dressing up, and it is great to see what’s underneath all those dresses. I had no idea that there’s bum rolls and all sorts of corsets tucked together. There’s a whole layering of stuff that you can definitely think, “Why did they need to wear this? Why, why, why did they have to pain themselves so much?” I mean, yes, it is a good look, but geez.
And for some reason, yes, I end up doing a lot of costume dramas. But I enjoy it, even though I’ve sworn a lot wearing my tight corsets. But you know, that’s a day or a few days for me in a row. It’s not like when they used to wear them, and they had to sit up sleeping.
And the wigs.
And the wigs and the animals that crawled into them, ugh. For what? What?
As an actress, you meet a lot of people. Have you ever in life, obviously we’re not going to name names, but have you met anybody as manipulative as the people in this story?
Yes. Of course, I think it’s more subtle in a lot of people. No one is just good, or no one is just bad. We’re all the good, bad, and ugly. I have a darkness inside of me as well. I’m the wolf and I’m Little Red Riding Hood, and I think manipulation comes from weakness, that’s when you need to manipulate.
So, in fact, if you look at what’s underneath all that, it’s weakness. And that’s more interesting to work with, as an actor, but also in real life. That’s where you have to focus on, not what you see, but the symptom of what’s really going on.
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One of the things noticeable about this -- and maybe it’s something that Bridgerton started, but there’s diversity casting in this and not just in servant rolls, but people in power. Do you think that’s important when we’re re-telling these stories from different eras to include a diverse cast?
Oh, 100 percent. I feel like I have to make way as well as a white, middle-aged woman. I think it’s very important. But I also think that a lot of research has gone into this show, so there’s also so many ways that people of color were in this world, but we just have put them away from common knowledge. So, I think there’s also an element of truth in this show.
I don’t want to compare it to Bridgerton, I’ve never seen that show to be honest, so I can’t really say anything about that. But I think what makes the show different is that it is a very authentic take on the time. Even though the language can be very modern, the themes are still very accurate. The amount of detail that went into the accuracy of what it looks like, the costumes, the vibe, the music, I think that makes it very special.
After Game of Thrones, you were thinking about changing the trajectory of your career, maybe away from acting. Is that something that you rethought and now with this, you’re back to acting?
Well, I guess I’m a little bit in a mid-life, not a crisis, but I’m in mid-life and it’s just what it is, what I'm in. So, it does mean that you’re looking at things in a different way. I have so many interests. I would love to do a non-scripted show. I would love to do more interior design. I have so many other things that I like. Acting is definitely a way for me to express myself but there’s other ways to do that. But yeah, if something is written well, like this was, there’s no way I cannot do it.
Dangerous Liaisons airs new episodes Sunday nights on STARZ.
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