Andrew Scott haunts in first trailer for Netflix scammer series Ripley
Andrew Scott in the trailer for new Netflix series, Ripley. (Netflix)
The first trailer for Netflix’s new psychological thriller series Ripley is here, and it features All of Us Strangers star Andrew Scott in his most chilling role to date.
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s beloved crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, the twisted new eight-part miniseries sees Andrew Scott take on the role of obsessive fraudster Tom Ripley.
The elusive and enigmatic scammer Ripley is hired by a rich businessman to help track down his wayward son who is believed to be living in Italy.
Yet when Ripley finally meets said son, Dickie Greenleaf, played by Lovesick actor Johnny Flynn, and his girlfriend Marge Sherwood, played by The Secret Life of Bees star Dakota Fanning, he becomes obsessed with infiltrating their social circle and adopting their lavish dolce vita lifestyle.
Or, as the official synopsis puts it, Ripley’s introduction to the wealthy young couple “is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder”.
In the first trailer of the series, which is created by Oscar-winning director and writer Steven Zaillian, Andrew Scott’s scheming begins – entirely in black and white.
The anonymous Ripley is seen stealing Dickie’s identity, lurking in the streets and hiding hauntingly in the shadows.
In one scene, he appears to be threatening Marge, while another sees him answering the question on everyone’s lips: Who is Mr Ripley?
The end of the trailer reveals that Ripley will be dropping on Netflix on 4 April this year.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in December, Scott said the role was one of the hardest for him to fulfil yet.
“It was a heavy part to play. I found it mentally and physically really hard. That’s just the truth of it,” he explained.
“I feel like you’re required to love and advocate for your characters, and your job is to go, ‘Why? What’s that?’ You don’t play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley.
“You have to throw all those out, try not to listen to them, and go, OK, well, I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character.”
As well as being an infamous novel character, Tom Ripley was previously brought to life by Matt Damon in the 1999, five-time Oscar-nominated film The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Recent queer hit Saltburn has also drawn comparisons to The Talented Mr. Ripley, as lead character Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) merges into the lives of Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi) and the rest of the Catton family, gradually deceiving them all with tragic consequences.
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