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Johnny Flynn joins Steve Zaillian’s Ripley adaptation

By Daniel Goldsmith

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 24: Actors Johnny Flynn and Geoffrey Rush attend the Los Angeles Premiere Screening of National Geographics 'Genius' the Fox Theater on April 24, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for National Geographic)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 24: Actors Johnny Flynn and Geoffrey Rush attend the Los Angeles Premiere Screening of National Geographics 'Genius' the Fox Theater on April 24, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for National Geographic) /
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Musician and actor Johnny Flynn will star in Showtime’s upcoming drama Ripley.

Set to play the role of Dickie Greenleaf, Johnny Flynn will star alongside Andrew Scott, who has already been tapped to play the titular character. An adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s five-novel series, the first season of Ripley is being written and directed by Steve Zaillian.

Also known for his work with the band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, Flynn starred in the Channel 4/Netflix sitcom Lovesick and is set to play David Bowie in the upcoming biopic Stardust. In 2017 he drew a Critics Choice Television Award nomination for his role as a young Albert Einstein in the anthology Genius.

The first season of Ripley is reported to mirror the first book of the series, where small-time con man Tom Ripley is hired by wealthy American businessman Herbert Greenleaf to travel to Italy and convince his carefree son, Dickie, to return home. The story takes a series of dark turns as Ripley joins Dickie’s inner circle and develops an obsession with his new friend. The season will consist of eight episodes. Zaillian says that he plans to continue this formula for the rest of the series, with each book being adapted into an eight-episode season.

The Ripley novels have been adapted to screen in the past, most notably in 1999 with Matt Damon and Jude Law starring as Ripley and Greenleaf, respectively.

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Zaillian is the writer of a long list of blockbuster films, including Schindler’s List, Mission: Impossible, and The Irishman). This is his second foray into television after the 2016 HBO miniseries The Night Of. Ripley is not the only Highsmith adaptation Zaillian has in the works: the psychological thriller Deep Water is set to hit theaters, with Adrian Lyne directing Zaillian’s screenplay.

The show does not yet have a confirmed release date, but will likely air in 2021 given Zaillian’s plan to start filming in September 2020.

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