Fleabag "Hot Priest" Andrew Scott to play Tom Ripley on Showtime

TVLine

Scott will star in Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels, playing a grifter who is barely scraping by in 1960s New York when he’s hired to travel to Italy to retrieve a wealthy man’s son. “Tom’s acceptance of the job is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder,” according to Showtime's synopsis. Ripley, written by Steven Zaillian, will cover five of Highsmith's novels, including The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was made into the 1999 Matt Damon film. “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,” Showtime entertainment president Gary Levine said in a statement. “With Andrew Scott, whose charisma knows no bounds, inhabiting the iconic lead role, we feel confident that this will be a special one.” In addition to Fleabag, Scott has had recent roles on Netflix's Black Mirror and HBO's His Dark Materials.