Andrew Scott has addressed the comparisons between his character in Sherlock and his new role in Netflix's Ripley.
The upcoming series, adapted from Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel The Talented Mr Ripley, will follow Scott's titular character as he scams his way to a life of riches in 1960s Italy.
While some have compared Ripley to Scott's villainous character Moriarty in the BBC's Sherlock, which he played between 2010 and 2017, Scott believes the two are completely different.
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"It does feel different [to playing Moriarty]. As Moriarty I felt like I was playing a villain and for some reason I retreat against calling Ripley a villain," the actor explained while speaking on Radio 4's Today programme.
"He's an anti-hero and it's up to me to make the audience know what it's like to be Ripley, not to be a victim of Tom Ripley. We should empathise with him. He is the protagonist in this."
Scott went on to say that Highsmith's novel actually makes you "want to root" for Ripley, adding: "This is a man with enormous talent living in stress where his neighbours are rats.
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"He is unseen and can do what he does in order to survive like so many people do and then he lands in this world where people are less talented than him and have no qualms in calling themselves artists.
"The message is, 'If you dismiss certain factors of the community, something becomes rotten in state of Denmark'".
Created by The Night Of's Steven Zaillian, Ripley also stars Johnny Flynn (Emma) as Dickie and Dakota Fanning (The Watchers) as Marge Sherwood, who fall victim to Ripley's manipulation.
Ripley will be available to stream on Netflix from April 4.
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Content Production Intern, Digital Spy
After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In this role, Iona writes across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. During her time at Digital Spy, she has interviewed multiple Love Island stars, reported from the Black Adam red carpet and, most recently, interviewed the cast of Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid.
