Will There Be a ‘Ripley’ Season 2? Andrew Scott Says He Just Wants To “Go and Have An Ice Cream” Right Now

Nearly five years ago, Andrew Scott signed on to star in Ripley, a limited series adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley that would be both written and directed in full by series creator Steven Zaillian. After years of delays, the series finally debuted on Netflix last week (and not Showtime, where it was originally pitched). Needless to say, Ripley was worth the wait. The elegantly noir-ish thriller features incredible black and white cinematography, heart-racing set pieces, and an all-time great performance from Andrew Scott. Ripley also ends on a sort of cliffhanger for the characters, as Tom Ripley’s (Andrew Scott) ultimate subterfuge is uncovered by one of his adversaries. Moreover, Zaillian takes the care to introduce John Malkovich as Reeves Minot in the show’s finale; Minot is one of Ripley’s key allies in Highsmith’s later novels.

So does this mean that Andrew Scott and Steven Zaillian are hatching a plan to adapt more Ripley books? Will there be a Ripley Season 2?

Ripley Season 1 follows the plot of Highsmith’s first novel featuring the charismatic conman. Young grifter Tom Ripley is approached by a wealthy shipbuilder to travel to Europe to convince the rich man’s son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to come home. For some reason, Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan) believes Tom is an old friend of Dickie’s. The strapped-for-cash Ripley welcomes the opportunity to be paid to go to Europe — especially since it appears the FBI is closing in on his petty mail fraud schemes. However, when Tom Ripley arrives in the Amalfi Coast town of Atrani, he finds himself pulled into a much larger web of deceit.

So will Ripley come back for a second season? Or are Steven Zaillian and Andrew Scott done with Highsmith’s anti-hero. Decider asked Ripley star Andrew Scott about the future of his latest role and here’s what he had to say…

Will There Be a Ripley Season 2? Here’s What Andrew Scott Has to Say:

Sure, Netflix’s The Witcher can recast its eponymous leading man, but Ripley lives and dies according to Andrew Scott’s performance. And it seems that the Irish actor isn’t thinking about returning to the role anytime soon…

“I think, because it’s been such a long gestation period, I’m just really looking forward to seeing what people think of the show. You know, it’s a limited series,” Scott said, before getting even more (adorably) blunt about his plans for the immediate future.

“And I’ve been working incredibly hard for the past couple of years, so I’m going to just go and have an ice cream on some Irish beach. That’s the next thing that I’m thinking about before I’m thinking about murder or any other form of non-murdering type of acting.”

So you hear that? Andrew Scott just wants an ice cream! (And judging by his tone during our call, we at Decider totally believe him! Give that man a double scoop!)

How Many Ripley Sequels Are There? Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley Books:

Once Andrew Scott has gotten his dairy fix on, there’s still a small chance he could continue with the role in future installments. After all, Ripley only covers the first of five Patricia Highsmith Tom Ripley novels.

Fifteen years after 1955’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, Highsmith wrote the first sequel, Ripley Under Ground. The book takes place seven years later. Ripley is now married to an heiress and lives comfortably in France thanks to Dickie Greenleaf’s money and additional income supplied by working odd jobs for Minot. That book centers on an art forgery scheme gone wrong and features Ripley impersonating someone else… Elements, again, teased throughout Netflix’s Ripley.

Then in 1974, Highsmith wrote Ripley’s Game. In that book, Ripley is approached by Minot to commit murder, but demurs, suggesting they manipulate another man into doing the deed. The murders eventually occur and soon the mafia is after Ripley and his allies. You’ll recall, again, the thread of mafia connections in Netflix’s Ripley. As an interesting aside, Ripley’s Game was turned into a movie back in 2002, starring none other than John Malkovich (!!) as the title character.

The final two Ripley books, 1980’s The Boy Who Followed Ripley and 1990’s Ripley Under Water, deal with an older, tamer Ripley dealing with the consequences of his past, be it serving as a mentor to a younger version of himself or dealing with a malicious nemesis trying to prove his past crimes.

Netflix’s Ripley might simply nod to some of these stories to nod at Highsmith’s oeuvre. We should expect that Ripley is, as Andrew Scott said, a “limited series.” But stranger things have happened and other limited series have been revived for second seasons. It doesn’t hurt Scott’s ice cream plans that there’s seven years between the first two stories…