Andrew Scott Doesn't See Ripley As A Monster

Fresh Air

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4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

In the series Ripley, Andrew Scott plays a con artist with no conscience. The actor says it was important to humanize his character. "For me, I think your first job is to sort of advocate for the character and try not to judge them." Scott's up for a SAG Award for his portrayal of Tom Ripley.

David Bianculli reviews Netflix's new six-part drama series Zero Day, starring Robert De Niro.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Fresh Air. I'm David B. and Cooley.
0:03.2	Today's guest, actor Andrew Scott, got noticed by many American TV viewers because of his role in the second season of the British comedy series Fleabag.
0:12.4	He played the so-called Hot Priest, who was torn between his vow of celibacy and his attraction to a woman who loves him.
0:20.1	Before that, Scott got rave reviews in another
0:22.8	British series that made it to the U.S., Sherlock, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes.
0:29.5	Andrew Scott played the famed detective's nemesis, Moriarty. In the UK, he starred in several
0:35.3	acclaimed stage productions, including plays by Shakespeare
0:38.2	and Chekhov.
0:39.6	Terry spoke with Andrew Scott last year, and the reason we're returning to the interview is because
0:44.7	he's been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his starring performance in the
0:48.9	2024 Netflix series Ripley.
0:51.6	The SAG Award ceremony is Sunday night.
0:56.7	Ripley is based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, the first of several books about Tom Ripley, a con man with
1:02.8	no conscience. He's a cold-blooded opportunist who most probably is a sociopath. Matt Damon played
1:10.5	Ripley in a 1999 movie version,
1:13.2	but the Netflix version, written and directed by Steve Zalian, is an even bigger and better
1:18.6	adaptation. It was beautifully photographed in various scenic cities, and Andrew Scott as Ripley
1:25.4	carried almost every scene with a sense of mystery, magnetism, and maybe even a touch of madness.
1:33.0	As the Netflix version begins, Ripley is scraping by on small-time hustles when a wealthy man tracks Ripley down and offers him an unusual proposition.
1:43.5	The man believes that Ripley was a close college
1:46.0	friend of the man's son, Dickie, and he offers to pay Ripley to go to Italy, visit Dickie at the
1:52.2	villa where he's living a layabout life with his girlfriend, and persuade him to return home to the
	...

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