Lucio (King) in a scene from “Ripley.”
Netflix
The Netflix restricted collection Ripley includes a cat named King, whose presence within the present means greater than viewers would possibly assume.
Set within the Sixties, Ripley — director Steve Zaillian’s black and white adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s traditional 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley — stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, a New York City grifter who has fallen on arduous occasions.
Ripley’s fortunes change, nevertheless, when by means of a stroke of dumb luck he’s employed by a rich transport businessman, Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan), to journey to Italy to persuade his wandering son, Dickie (Johnny Flynn), to return home.
Becoming obsessive about the younger Greenleaf’s lavish European life-style, Ripley develops a nefarious plan to steal Dickie’s id. Dakota Fanning additionally stars in Ripley as Marge Sherwood, a fellow American suspicious of Ripley’s actions.
King — a Maine Coon cat — performs Lucio in Ripley. The massive feline is featured within the miniseries’ ominous prologue scene as he watches Ripley dragging a physique down a set of stairs. The cat then returns in Episode 5.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zaillian pressured why the majestic cat was a vital a part of Ripley.
“I had written the cat into the scripts, and I did it with some trepidation,” Zaillian informed THR. “I had this idea that the only witnesses to Tom’s crimes would be animals that couldn’t testify and people who might be uncomfortable testifying. The cat, of course, was the tricky one.”
Zaillian Says Finding The Right Cat To Play Lucio Wasn’t Easy
Discussing his use of King in Ripley with THR, Steven Zaillian mentioned that the cat wanted to be recast twice earlier than the distinct feline landed the function.
“Owners would bring cats into the office and think you would want them to do tricks,” Zaillian recalled for the commerce publication. “But what we wanted was a cat that could just be really chill, and comfortable with people and cameras.”
All eight episodes of Ripley are streaming on Netflix. The collection debuted at No. 7 on the streamer’s Top 10 Global TV Shows for the week of April 1-7, attracting 2.3 million views, which equates to 16.9 million viewing hours.
The Talented Mr. Ripley was beforehand tailored as a 1999 movie of the identical title starring Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf and Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood.
The 1999 movie — which additionally options Cate Blanchett and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman in supporting roles — earned 5 Oscar nominations together with a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for the movie’s late writer-director Anthony Minghella and a Best Supporting Actor nod for Law.
