Andrew Scott – goddamn Moriarty/the Hot Priest – has been cast as Tom Ripley in a new series coming to Showtime. This, this, is the definition of perfect casting. Holy shit, I’m so excited.
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If you’re unfamiliar with the 1999 movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley stars Matt Damon in the titular role, and Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf. It’s based on Patricia Highsmith‘s novel of the same name and tells the story of Tom Ripley, a young man with a strong penchant for telling lies. He is extremely good at it, and impersonating people. Anyway, Tom is hired by a wealthy man to bring his son (Law) back to America and thus follows heavy sexual tension, lies, fraud, and erm (spoiler alert) inevitable murder. That is the very simple gist of it. Gwyneth Paltrow co-starred as Dickie’s girlfriend Marge Sherwood.
Showtime’s adaptation, Ripley, has copped a straight-to-series order of eight episodes, per The Hollywood Reporter. Steven Zaillian, who wrote the screenplay for Schindler’s List, will write and direct the entire first season.
“We are so thrilled to have the supremely talented filmmaker, Steve Zaillian, adapt the singular saga of Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith’s novels as an ongoing series for Showtime,” network President of Entertainment Gary Levine said in the presser. “With Andrew Scott, whose charisma knows no bounds, inhabiting the iconic lead role, we feel confident that this will be a special one.”
Hard agree.
The fabulous news for Scott comes on the heels of his Fleabag friend Phoebe Waller-Bridge cashing in on a USD$20 million deal per year with Amazon. The Emmy Award winner will create and produce new television content for Amazon Studios.
“I’m insanely excited to be continuing my relationship with Amazon,” Waller-Bridge said. “Working with the team on Fleabag was the creative partnership dreams are made of. It really feels like home. I can’t wait to get going!”
