Dakota Fanning on taking over from Gwyneth Paltrow in Netflix’s Ripley

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In Ripley, Netflix’s eight-episode revamp of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, Dakota Fanning is stepping into Gwyneth Paltrow’s shoes as Marge Sherwood, the suspicious girlfriend of an affluent New Yorker who is murdered by a duplicitous grifter.

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But even though Fanning calls herself a massive fan of The Talented Mr. Ripley, the 1999 movie that cast Paltrow alongside Matt Damon (as the devious Tom Ripley) and Jude Law (who played his hapless victim Dickie Greenleaf), the 30-year-old actress wanted to put her own stamp on the icy Marge. After all, it’s through that character’s eyes as she grows distrustful of Tom’s motives, that we see his complex life of deceit, fraud, and murder start to unravel.

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“I’m a huge fan of the movie, and I always will be, but we’re doing something that’s separate. So I didn’t take on any of that pressure. But I would never try to replicate anything and I think the representation of these characters are specific to this series,” Fanning says over Zoom.

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And no, Fanning doesn’t have an eye on inhabiting any of Paltrow’s other past roles. “I’m not thinking about taking on any of Gwyneth’s past roles,” she says, breaking into a grin. “I will leave that to her, for sure. I thought about this as something very different.”

Created, written and directed by Steven Zaillian, Highsmith’s crime classic is reimagined with Andrew Scott (Fleabag, All of Us Strangers) cast as the murderous Tom, a cheque scammer in New York who is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy and convince his son Dickie (played by Johnny Flynn) to come back to America.

But enamored with his glamourous lifestyle, Tom insinuates himself into Dickie’s world, copying his mannerisms and learning to forge his signature before killing him and taking on his identity. As Marge grows wary of Tom, the fraudster has to work quickly to cover his tracks.

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“A petty criminal who feels he deserves better than his meager circumstances,” is how Zaillian, who won an Oscar for penning Schindler’s List, describes Tom. Marge, he adds, is “too smart to be conned and can threaten his schemes.”

Fanning says the role is the kind of part she’s dreamed of playing in a career that stretches back over 20 years and includes acclaimed performances in 2001’s I Am Sam (for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award), the Twilight franchise and as Tom Cruise’s daughter in War of the Worlds.

Zaillian was convinced Fanning was the perfect actress to go toe-to-toe with Tom Ripley after watching her portrayal of Charles Manson cult member Squeaky Fromme in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

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“I would have watched this show even if I wasn’t in it. I would have been excited for it and waiting for it,” the Georgia native enthuses. “I think getting to spend eight hours with these characters, and do a deeper dive that you can only do when you have more time was very exciting for me. So when it came about, I said I would do it before I spoke to Steve. I was excited to be a part of this version and this incarnation of such a beloved story.”

The series’ noirish tone is underlined by Zaillian’s decision to film Ripley in black and white, avoiding the glossy pastiche of the 1999 film.

“I just think it automatically puts you into a mood and a mindset as a viewer by seeing these places and locations and characters and sets a specific tone,” Fanning says. “I can’t even imagine it not in black and white at this point. The way that it looks is so spectacular and puts you into a frame of mind for the eight hours to come.”

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Of course, there was the added bonus of working on location in Italy. Between shooting Ripley and last year’s Equalizer III, Fanning says filming in the country took her to some of the most beautiful locations on the planet. So her days off were spent walking and eating.

“I was in Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Naples and Venice. Because I spent the most amount of time there, I walked more than I ever have in my whole life. I would just walk along the water in Rome and just walk as long as I could and then stop at my favourite restaurant in Trastevere and have a glass of wine and my pasta and walk home. That’s just what I would do. It’s so spectacularly beautiful.”

But living in the land of high fashion, Fanning found herself catching a break from the dark vibe of Ripley by indulging in a little retail therapy.

“I also couldn’t stop buying things. I just shopped,” she says grinning. “It’s just the way everything looks, I kept thinking, ‘I got to have it.’ So I shopped and shopped and shopped and walked and walked and walked and ate and ate and ate.”

Ripley is streaming now on Netflix.

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