Andrew Scott & Dakota Fanning Say Steven Zaillian's Script Drew Them to 'Ripley' Series | THR News Video - video Dailymotion

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The new Netflix series 'Ripley,' captured entirely in black-and-white, sees Oscar-winning 'Schindler's List' screenwriter Steven Zaillian share his take on author Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels. Zaillian and the show's stars Andrew Scott and Dakota Fanning spoke to The Hollywood Reporter all about working on the limited series.

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00:00There's a moodiness and a tone that is immediately set by it being in black and white,

00:04and I now can't imagine it any other way.

00:08The new Netflix series Ripley, captured entirely in black and white,

00:12sees Oscar-winning Schindler's List screenwriter Steve Zalian

00:14share his take on author Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels.

00:18Zalian and the show's stars spoke to The Hollywood Reporter

00:21all about working on the limited series.

00:23Dakota Fanning revealed what made her want to be part of the project.

00:26I was a massive admirer of Steve Zalian and his work and how brilliant he is,

00:32so I pretty much, when it was even mentioned that he wanted to speak with me or send me the scripts,

00:37I said, well, I'll do it no matter, make sure he knows that I'll do it no matter what,

00:41no matter how the conversation goes, I will do it if he wants me to.

00:44And then, you know, just reading the scripts and reading Steve's vision, you know, on the page,

00:50I just was desperate to be a part of it and lucky that he wanted me to be.

00:57Andrew Scott echoed those sentiments at the film's Los Angeles premiere

01:00when asked what drew him to the series.

01:02Chiefly the extraordinary script that Steve Zalian wrote,

01:05I thought it was really witty and I thought it was just economically and beautifully

01:11and sort of scintillatingly written and it seemed to have a real respect for the book

01:15without having too much reverence for it, it made it very televisual.

01:18Scott stars as Tom Ripley, a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York

01:22before a unique job leads him into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder.

01:27Fanning, who plays Marge Sherwood, opened up about what it was like working with Scott on the drama.

01:32Oh, it was so fun. It really was.

01:34You know, we have, our characters have such a complicated dynamic and relationship

01:39and, you know, we get to kind of go toe-to-toe with one another in most of our scenes together

01:44and so we really enjoyed doing that.

01:47And then just as a human being, he's a wonderful person

01:50and I think we approach our work similarly that, you know, we also need the kind of some lightness

01:57and the play and the joy to balance out some of the heavy, long, darker days

02:01and so I think we were able to support each other in that way too and also have a really good time.

02:07Highsmith's Tom Ripley character is no stranger to the screen

02:09as her novels have been adapted into various films such as 1977's The American Friend

02:14and, of course, 1999's The Talented Mr. Ripley.

02:18Zalian shared what makes this take on Tom Ripley different from those we've seen before.

02:22I think you get to know him better in this one.

02:24I mean, I think that the, you know, the long format allows you to spend more time with him

02:29and to, I don't know, get into the details of not only the plot of what he does

02:36but the moment-to-moment thought processes that he has

02:39and, you know, makes a full character to have that much time.

02:45I mean, for instance, we don't really know where he comes from in the movie adaptations.

02:52Very little time is spent on that.

02:55I thought it was important to know where this guy comes from

02:57and who he is before he gets to Italy to know what his circumstances are.

03:03Ripley is now streaming on Netflix.

03:05For more on Ripley, head to THR.com.

03:08For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.

Andrew Scott & Dakota Fanning Say Steven Zaillian's Script Drew Them to 'Ripley' Series | THR News Video

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