Ripley hit Netflix today, April 4, bringing Patricia Highsmith’s classic novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, to life in a cool, tense television adaptation. Andrew Scott takes on the famous character, who has previously been played by Alain Delon, Matt Damon, and John Malkovich, and the All of Us Strangers and Fleabag actor has received great acclaim for his enigmatic, physical, and calculating performance in this cold study of sociopathy.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the series is that it’s created, written, and directed by the iconic Steven Zaillian, who has been nominated for five Oscars — for Awakenings, Gangs of New York, Moneyball, and The Irishman, winning for the timeless Schindler’s List in 1994.
30 years later, the acclaimed writer has released his adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley. If that seems incongruous, keep in mind that Zaillian wrote the scripts for Hannibal (2001) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). He has an affinity for brilliant criminals. The director told MovieWeb why he chose to take on a story that has already been adapted multiple times.
“How I saw the character, how I imagined the character that she wrote so beautifully, I hadn’t really seen that. As much as I liked the other films, I felt this character was a little bit different, or I saw him a little bit differently. And so it was an opportunity to do both of those things,” explained Zaillian, pinpointing that a TV show would have the time to be more faithful to Highsmith’s story.
Every Tom Ripley Movie, Ranked
This list gives you a sneak peek into every Tom Ripley movie, and analyzes every depiction, while also ranking them from worst to best.
Maurizio Lombardi Is on Tom Ripley’s Case
One of the most delightful parts of Netflix’s Ripley is the cat and mouse game between the titular character and a persistent Roman detective, Inspector Ravini, immaculately played by Maurizio Lombardi (of Paulo Sorrentino’s series The Young Pope and The New Pope). Ripley is a con artist who goes to extreme lengths to achieve and maintain financial comfort, and Rivani is the detective sifting through Ripley’s multiple crimes. Lombardi is fantastic, but for him, most of it was all on the page courtesy of Zaillian. He just had to turn it into a great cat and mouse game:
I found all my inspiration in the script. It was so accurate, the script by Steve, I found everything in the script. I tried to play a chess game with Ripley, and my movements are my lines.
From Endemol Shine North America, Entertainment 360, Diogenes Entertainment, FILMRIGHTS, and Showtime Studios, all eight episodes of Ripley are now streaming on Netflix. You can watch it through the link below and check out the trailer:
