Lucio (King) in a scene from "Ripley."
The Netflix limited series Ripley features a cat named King, whose presence in the show means more than viewers might think.
Set in the 1960s, Ripley — director Steve Zaillian’s black and white adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s classic 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley — stars Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley, a New York City grifter who has fallen on hard times.
Ripley’s fortunes change, however, when through a stroke of dumb luck he is hired by a wealthy shipping businessman, Herbert Greenleaf (Kenneth Lonergan), to travel to Italy to convince his wandering son, Dickie (Johnny Flynn), to return home.
Becoming obsessed with the younger Greenleaf’s lavish European lifestyle, Ripley develops a nefarious plan to steal Dickie’s identity. Dakota Fanning also stars in Ripley as Marge Sherwood, a fellow American suspicious of Ripley’s actions.
King — a Maine Coon cat — plays Lucio in Ripley. The large feline is featured in the miniseries’ ominous prologue scene as he watches Ripley dragging a body down a set of stairs. The cat then returns in Episode 5.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zaillian stressed why the majestic cat was an essential part of Ripley.
“I had written the cat into the scripts, and I did it with some trepidation,” Zaillian told 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 said that the cat needed to be recast twice before the distinct feline landed the role.
“Owners would bring cats into the office and think you would want them to do tricks,” Zaillian recalled for the trade 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 series 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 previously adapted as a 1999 film of the same name starring Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf and Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood.
The 1999 film — which also features Cate Blanchett and the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman in supporting roles — earned five Oscar nominations including a Best Adapted Screenplay nod for the film’s late writer-director Anthony Minghella and a Best Supporting Actor nod for Law.
