Ryan Phillippe Thought His Parents Would 'Disown' Him For Risqué Role In 'Cruel Intentions'

KEY POINTS

Ryan Phillippe thought his parents would disown him after taking his role in "Cruel Intentions"
The actor shared that his parents were not happy when he played a gay role on a soap opera
Phillippe misses playing a character similar to Sebastian Valmont

Ryan Phillippe feared that his religious parents would disown him after taking his role in the American teen romantic drama film "Cruel Intentions."

Phillippe was concerned about his parents' reaction after he said yes to his risque role in "Cruel Intentions." In Tuesday's episode of Barstool Sports’ "KFC Radio" podcast, he recalled what it was like working in the movie portraying the manipulative Sebastian Valmont.

The actor’s character made a bet with his stepsister Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) that he can “deflower” Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), the new headmaster’s daughter, before school starts. Phillippe was fully aware that the role would not sit well with his conservative family.

"I thought my parents were going to disown me," Phillippe was quoted by Us Weekly, as saying.

"I had grown up going to, like, Baptist school and Christian school. When I was a senior in high school, I played the first gay character on a soap opera — first gay teenager ever — and so I was shunned at that point. I mean this was 1992, and I was playing a gay teenager and I was in a Christian school. They weren’t happy about it."

The "Shooter" star read the script on the set of "I Know What You Did Last Summer." The producer warned him that the risqué role could raise brows. He decided to still take it because he had never played a character like Sebastian before. Looking back, he was happy with his decision and even misses playing a similar role.

"I want to get back to playing a character like Sebastian in ‘Cruel Intentions.’ It was just so fun to be so flippant and sort of like, you know, the emotions are theatrical,” Phillippe said.

"It’s cool that it holds up, man, you know, a lot of times to take a movie from a specific point in time that’s supposed to connect with a younger crowd and it just stays. This movie somehow finds new fans all the time.”

Witherspoon and Phillippe co-starred in "Cruel Intentions" where their electric chemistry won the hearts of many fans. They met on her 21st birthday, got engaged after a year, and married three months after their movie premiered. However, they separated in 2006. The exes share two kids, Ava, 21, and Deacon, 17.