Olivier winner Maria Friedman (Passion, Witches of Eastwick) is among the newly announced cast members for the upcoming Starz series Dangerous Liaisons, based on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' book of the same name.
Friedman, Variety reports, will play effervescent dressmaker Berthe in the new series starring Alice Englert as Marquise de Merteuil and Nicholas Denton as Vicomte de Valmont.
The dozen new additions also include Lesley Manville (The Visit, The Alchemist) as Genevieve de Merteuil, Carice van Houten as Jacqueline de Montrachet, Paloma Faith as Florence de Regnier, Michael McElhatton as Jean de Merteuil, Kosar Ali as Victoire, Nathanael Saleh as Azolan, Hakeem Kae-Kazim as Majordome, Hilton Pelser as Gabriel Carrè, Mia Threapleton as Rose, Colette Dalal Tchantcho as Ondine de Valmont, Lucy Cohu as Christine de Sevigny, Fisayo Akinade as Chevalier de Saint-Jacques, and Clare Higgins (Measure for Measure, The Deep Man) as Madame Jericho.
The series, created and written by executive producer Harriet Warner, focuses on manipulative lovers Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, who rise from the Paris slums and scale the heights of the French aristocracy.
The first four episodes will feature direction by Leonora Lonsdale. Other writers include Coline Abert, James Dormer, and Rita Kalnejais.
Choderlos de Laclos’ novel of sex, intrigue, and betrayal in pre-revolutionary France produced a scandal when it was first published in 1782. Christopher Hampton's stage adaption, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, has been produced on Broadway three times, in 1987, 2008 and 2016, and won both the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Play when it premiered in a production under the auspices of the RSC.
