Diane Kruger on The Seduction: “It’s that idea of being a woman and taking ownership of your own desires, your own body"

Both a prequel to and loose adaptation of the classic 19th century novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses – previously adapted into a successful 1988 film by Stephen Frears – HBO Max’s new French series The Seduction focuses on Isabelle de Merteuil (Anamaria Vartolomei), who seeks to gain revenge on Vicomte de Valmont, who manipulated her into a fake marriage.

After becoming entangled with Madame de Rosemonde (Diane Kruger), who wants to use her to seduce the Comte de Gercourt for her own ends, Isabelle decides to marry the Comte de Merteuil in order to become a Marquise and gain sufficient power to get back at Valmont.

Boasting lavish production, stunning visuals, a racy storyline and top-notch performances, The Seduction is sure to attract a sizeable audience, appealing to fans of both classic period drama and the erotically charged likes of Bridgerton.

“The story explores pretty much everything a human can express,” notes Vartolomei. “There’s vulnerability, fragility, fears and doubts. But also, the desire of power and aspects of sexuality. It’s the idea of knowing yourself, but also using masks as a way to lose yourself. The book is timeless for the themes – sexuality, power, money and greed. All of that resonates today.”

Kruger further teases out the enduring relevance of the story.

“Women were much more socially constrained back then,” she adds. “But we are here today because of women like Isabelle and Rosemonde – their rage, battles and striving for freedom. So it’s always a great opportunity to look back and try to understand what it meant for them. What were the costs? They were empowering themselves and looking for sexual liberty.

“It’s that idea of being a woman and taking ownership of your own desires, your own body. All those things that have been acquired – but we are here because of their thoughts and feelings. So it is modern, because we still want to move forward in all these areas.”

série de Jessica Palud pour MAX Episode 4

SHE TAKES LOVERS AS SHE PLEASES

With The Seduction being helmed by a female director, Jessica Palud, how do the cast feel this frames the stylistic approach?

“A woman understands the female characters, maybe not better, but in a more accurate way than men could do it,” says Vartolomei. “Around the subjects of sexuality, eroticism, seduction, we maybe felt more valued, and not reduced to something we might have already seen onscreen. I mean, I worked with Jessica before on the film Maria, and we really wanted to work together again.

“We kind of made a promise that if we reunited, it would be with a more challenging role. Isabelle was perfect, so I was thrilled to work with her again.”

“Those shows and films that look through the female gaze are still too few,” says Kruger. “More than ever, we need to hear female voices. So I’m really proud this is a fresh adaptation of a very typical male story, which has usually been portrayed from that point of view, and which takes another look at it from the female gaze.”

In terms of the show’s sexual politics, Kruger further notes the satisfying complexity of a role like Madame de Rosemonde.

“When I first read it, I had a lot of empathy for her,” she reflects. “She comes across as quite harsh and manipulative, but throughout the show, you’ll see a woman who has so much rage inside of her. She has chosen to live a life that’s not been dominated by men, even though she lives in a man’s world. She’s confined and limited by those rules men made for her, although she’s one of the first to break out of it.

“She lives her life almost like a man – she chose not to marry, she takes lovers as she pleases. And yet she has aged in a society which is – even more so than today – youth obsessed. So for her to be able to continue living the life she wants, she gets the idea of taking Isabelle under her wing. She wants to profit from that introduction, and go back to a life she was able to function in.”

You can find out how all of that worked out over six absorbing episodes...

• All episodes of The Seduction will be available to stream exclusively on HBO Max in Ireland from March 26.