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Tom Ripley
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Ripley
Ripley Andrew Scott (center) in the title role in the 2024 television miniseries Ripley, also starring Dakota Fanning (left) and Johnny Flynn (right).

Tom Ripley

fictional character
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Tom Ripley, fictional hero-villain of a series of psychologically acute crime novels by American writer Patricia Highsmith. An engagingly suave psychopathic murderer, Tom Ripley evokes conflicting feelings of fear and trust in other characters as well as in the reader. His “talent” is his ability to assume other people’s identities through such subterfuges as forgery and mimicking his targets’ mannerisms and voices.

The series began with The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955). Other books about the character include Ripley Under Ground (1970), Ripley’s Game (1974), and The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980).

Several Ripley books have been adapted for film, television, and theater, in particular the first novel in the series. Notable adaptations and the actors who have played Ripley include:

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  • Plein soleil (1960; Purple Noon), directed by René Clément, with Alain Delon as Ripley and Maurice Ronet as his wealthy playboy target, Philippe Greenleaf
  • The American Friend (1977), directed by Wim Wenders, starring Dennis Hopper as Ripley
  • The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), directed by Anthony Minghella, starring Matt Damon as Ripley and Jude Law as his target Dickie Greenleaf, with a supporting cast of Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, and Philip Seymour Hoffman
  • Ripley’s Game (2002), directed by Liliana Cavani, with John Malkovich as Ripley
  • Ripley (2024), directed by Steven Zaillian, starring Andrew Scott as Ripley and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf and featuring Dakota Fanning and Maurizio Lombardi
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by René Ostberg.