The Talented Reinvention of Mr. Ripley For the Small Screen

Rosemary Counter | April 5th, 2024

Andrew Scott steps Into the loafers of Tom Ripley in Netlfix's new adaption of the classic literary con man's story. Photo: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX

Fittingly for its chameleon-like titular character, The Talented Mr. Ripley by American writer Patricia Highsmith has reappeared in many, many forms since she published the psychological thriller – the first in a series of five books – in 1955. A year later, Tom Ripley debuted on the small screen in an episode of CBS’s anthology series Studio One, and, a few years after that, in the film Purple Noon. Since Ripley was most famously played by Matt Damon in the 1999 film that also starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law, versions of the villain have spoken everything from French to Bengali. Wherever you look, another Tom Ripley materializes.

Matt Damon (left and top inset) stars in the 1999 film *The Talented Mr. Ripley* with Jude Law (right and bottom inset) and Gwyneth Paltrow. Photo: Lance Staedler / Paramount / Miramax /Kobal / Shutterstock (Damon, Law and Paltrow); Everett Collection/Canadian Press (Damon inset); Pictorial Press Limited / Alamy Stock Photo (Law, inset)

The newest iteration is Ripley on Netflix, where Irish actor Andrew Scott – a.k.a. Fleabag’s “hot priest” and star of buzzy film All of Us Strangers – steps into the loafers of the 20th-century’s most famous literary con artist. This Ripley, directed and produced by Oscar-winning A-lister Steve Zaillian (The Irishman and Schindler’s List), is shot in Hitchcockian black-and-white as it juxtaposes Ripley’s brutal crimes against the gorgeous Italian countryside. Dakota Fanning takes on Paltrow’s former character Marge Sherwood, the girlfriend of spoiled playboy heir Dickie Greenleaf – whom Ripley kills to assume his identity – and Emma actor Johnny Flynn plays Greenleaf, the role that earned Law an Oscar nod. Keep your eyes peeled for John Malkovich, who also played Ripley in a 2002 film adaptation of Highsmith’s third novel, Ripley’s Game.

We’ve seen Ripley-esque characters in movies like Saltburn – which Variety called a “vicious knockoff” – but none quite compares to Tom: murderous and psychopathic, sure, but also uncomfortably easy to root for. That’s the mastery of Highsmith, who created a modern, queer-coded, class-crossing protagonist who refuses to accept his low station in life, and reinvents himself as necessary to enjoy the riches he presumes to deserve. Almost 70 years after Highsmith conjured Ripley, his ability to do anything and become anyone is devilishly irresistible.

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