Emmy spotlight: Andrew Scott deserves consideration for ‘Ripley’ 25 years after Matt Damon was snubbed by Oscars

Daniel Montgomery
·3 min read
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Tom Ripley is getting another chance on the awards circuit. The sinister con artist, created by author Patricia Highsmith in a series of novels, is played by Andrew Scott in the new limited series “Ripley” from Netflix. A quarter-century ago a variation of the same story was told in Anthony Minghella‘s film “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” but while that iteration received five Oscar nomination, it was snubbed for Best Picture, and star Matt Damon was left out of Best Actor. Can Scott make up for that with a nom for Best Movie/Limited Actor?

Damon’s portrayal of Tom Ripley had more warmth to it, a sense of longing (“I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody”). He was a tragic monster who trapped himself in a web of lies and murder. Scott’s performance suggests someone more methodical and calculating. During some lengthy scenes without dialogue we see his mind at work, regarding dead bodies simply as logistical problems to be solved. His coldness is disturbing. His smile is unnerving as he tries to maintain composure under questioning. Scott’s version of Ripley is a man whose identity is buried so far beneath his deceptions that we can hardly find who the man is underneath. That makes him a frightening, fascinating villain.

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TV critic Rodrigo Perez (The Playlist) calls Scott “superb” in “arguably his finest performance to date.” Nick Schager (Daily Beast) says that Scott “evokes his deceptive ruthlessness through his eyes—which slyly convey the machinations developing and spinning in his head—and his thin, unwelcoming smiles.” And Matt Schimkowitz (A.V. Club) adds, “Ripley attracts elite actors, and in Steven Zaillian’s masterful ‘Ripley’ Netflix series (out April 4), Andrew Scott may have surpassed them all.”

Scott, already an Emmy nominee in 2020 for a guest turn on the anthology series “Black Mirror” (and a shoulda-been nominee for playing Hot Priest on “Fleabag” and Moriarty on “Sherlock”), is on track for another nomination according to the combined predictions of Gold Derby users. He ranks third in our Movie/Limited Actor odds behind Jon Hamm (“Fargo”) and Tom Hollander (“Feud: Capote vs. the Swans”). But three of our Top 24 Users and two of our All-Star Top 24 say he’s actually the man to beat. And writer-director Zaillian previously guided another actor to a win in this category: Riz Ahmed in “The Night Of.” So don’t underestimate the wily con.

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