'Dangerous Liaisons': Starz Prequel Series Adds Lesley Manville, Carice Van Houten, and More

The upcoming period drama has already cast Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton as its young leads.

Starz has announced more casting for its upcoming Dangerous Liaisons series, which has been described as a reimagining of the 1782 classic novel and will actually be a prequel set before the events that have been told on-screen in countless iterations. The show has already cast Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton as its leads, who will play a young Camille and Pascal Valmont, respectively.

Joining the previously announced cast members are Oscar nominee Lesley Manville, who most recently appeared in another period drama Harlots as ruthless brothel madam Lydia Quigley, as is Carice Van Houten, who had her own memorable turn as the Red Woman Melisandre in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Manville will play Genevieve de Merteuil, a Marquise who becomes Camille’s mentor in the world of the Parisian nobility, and Van Houten will play Jacqueline de Montrachet, a pious noblewoman with a mysterious connection to Camille.

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Additional cast will include Paloma Faith (Youth) as Florence de Regnier; Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones) as Jean de Merteuil, Genevieve de Merteuil’s husband; Kosar Ali (Rocks) as Victoire, Camille’s sparky, cynical and brave best friend; Nathanael Saleh (Mary Poppins Returns) as Azolan, Valmont’s gentle, thoughtful young companion; Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Godzilla vs. Kong) as Majordome, who runs the Merteuil house; Hilton Pelser (Moffie) as Gabriel Carrè; Mia Threapleton (A Little Chaos) as Rose; Colette Dalal Tchantcho (The Witcher) as Ondine de Valmont; Lucy Cohu (The Queen’s Sister) as Christine de Sevigny; Fisayo Akinade (The Personal History of David Copperfield) as Chevalier de Saint-Jacques; Maria Friedman (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) as Berthe; and Clare Higgins (Ready Player One) as Madame Jericho.

The series is created and written by Harriet Warner (Tell Me Your Secrets, Call the Midwife) who also serves as executive producer. Other executive producers are Playground’s Colin Callender, Tony Krantz for Flame Ventures, Bethan Jones, Scott Huff, and Christopher Hampton. Barney Reisz serves as series producer. Coline Abert, James Dormer, and Rita Kalnejais will serve as writers on the series alongside Warner, and Leonora Lonsdale has been tapped to direct the first four episodes of the season.

No official premiere date has yet been confirmed for Dangerous Liaisons. Check out the official series synopsis below:

“Dangerous Liaisons” is a bold reimagining of the iconic characters from Laclos’ classic 18th century novel and tells the origin story of how the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont meet as passionate young lovers in Paris on the eve of revolution. Driven to right the wrongs of their past, we follow the couple as they rise from the slums of Paris and scale the heights of the French aristocracy, seducing and manipulating both the nobility and each other to survive.

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