Ripley Trivia | 30 facts about the Netflix miniseries

Ripley is an American psychological thriller television series based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Let’s find out more about the series!

1. Ripley is an American psychological thriller television series.
2. It is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr. Ripley.
3. Andrew Scott stars as Tom Ripley, Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf and Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood.
4. Ripley has eight-episodes.
5. The limited series was created, written and directed by Steven Zaillian.
6. Ripley was originally set to air on Showtime.
7. In February 2023, the series moved to Netflix.
8. It premiered on April 4, 2024.
9. Andrew Scott is the sixth actor to portray Tom Ripley on film, after Alain Delon in Purple Noon (1960), Dennis Hopper in The American Friend (1977), Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), John Malkovich in Ripley’s Game (2002), and Barry Pepper in Ripley Under Ground (2005).
10. Co-star John Malkovich appeared as Tom Ripley himself in “Ripley’s Game (2002).”
11. In dreams by Roy Orbison plays in episode one which is set in 1961. The song was not released until 1963 .
12. On September 25, 2019, it was announced that Andrew Scott had been cast as Tom Ripley in Ripley, a television series to be adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels.
13. A series order of eight episodes was commissioned by Showtime, to be written and directed by Steven Zaillian, who pitched the series to the network.
14. He explained that adapting the material as a series rather than a feature film “allowed me to be more faithful to the story, tone, and subtleties of Highsmith’s work. [I] tried to approach my adaptation in a way I imagined she might herself.”
15. Zaillian serves as executive producer alongside Garrett Basch, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Sharon Levy, and Philipp Keel, with Scott as a producer.
16. The series was co-produced by Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights.
17. Though designed as a limited series, further seasons are a possibility.
18. The casting of Scott as Tom Ripley was announced in September 2019.
19. Johnny Flynn was cast as Dickie Greenleaf in January 2020.
20. In March 2021, Dakota Fanning was cast as Marge Sherwood.
21. Eliot Sumner joined the cast in a recurring role in December 2021.
22. Scott said of his portrayal, “You don’t play the opinions, the previous attitudes that people might have about Tom Ripley … I have to have the courage to create our own version and my own understanding of the character … It was a heavy part to play. I found it mentally and physically really hard”.
23. He described understanding what Ripley does as “arduous”, explaining, “Certain things I can understand, but other things—it’s actually the blankness that’s sometimes hard to engage with.”
24. Shooting was originally planned to begin in Italy in September 2020.
25. It was later delayed to 2021.
26. Robert Elswit was the cinematographer of all eight episodes, and shot with Arri Alexa LF digital cameras.
27. In February 2023, the series was in the early stages of post-production.
28. Ripley will be presented in black-and-white. Zaillian explained, “The edition of the Ripley book I had on my desk had an evocative black-and-white photograph on the cover. As I was writing, I held that image in my mind. Black and white fits this story—and it’s gorgeous.”
29. The runnig time for each episode span from 44-76 minutes.
30. Dakotta Fanning’s performance in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood convinced Zaillian she was the perfect person to go toe-to-toe with Tom Ripley.