Why The Talented Mr. Ripley star Jude Law 'loved' Netflix's Ripley: 'A completely different mood'

Jude Law, Oscar-nominated for his role in the 1999 film The Talented Mr. Ripley, raved about Netflix's series Ripley at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

"Isn't it interesting to see a really good bit of material viewed, creatively, from such different perspectives? ’Cause I loved the series. I thought there was so much in it, but a completely different mood," Law tells EW at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, where two of his upcoming films — The Order and Eden — premiered. "Obviously they had a different timescale, too, ’cause it was a series. But to find that iciness, the psychopathy, and… You saw it almost through Tom's eyes really, the world, and then [movie director] Anthony [Minghella]'s world, which is romance and love and escapism and color. Interesting."

Law played Dickie Greenleaf, a playboy and the target of character Tom Ripley's obsession in the movie, while Johnny Flynn took on the role in the show.

Ripley is up for several statuettes at the Emmys on Sept. 15. The upcoming ceremony will recognize the drama — which is dark both emotionally and literally, as it's presented in black and white — in five categories. It's up for trophies for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, as well as the performances by Andrew Scott, who plays Tom Ripley, and Dakota Fanning, the show's Marge Sherwood, Dickie's girlfriend.

Released 25 years ago this December, the movie netted five Oscar nominations, including Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for Minghella. Law's costars included Matt Damon as Ripley, Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dickie's friend Freddie Miles. Cate Blanchett played the key role of Meredith Logue.

Both the film and Netflix series Ripley are adapted from Patricia Highsmith's 1955 novel the film is named after.

In April, Law told Entertainment Weekly that he became emotional when he first saw Netflix's version.

"I haven't watched the one I'm in in many, many years," he adds. "So, it was funny how many of the scenes are similar and kicked up so many memories in my mind. And how well I knew it. I kept thinking, Oh God, I remember this. Down to the name of Dickie's maid, Ermelinda. I always remember saying, 'Ermelinda, Ermelinda.' There was an emotional level, too, to revisiting those characters."

At the time, he was far into the series, which was directed by Steven Zaillian.

"I've watched at least five or six of [the eight episodes]," he said. "Like any great source material, it's really rewarding and interesting to watch something from a new perspective, a new angle."

Law liked what he had seen.

"I'm enjoying it. How can one not?" he said then. "It's such great material. You're in great hands with wonderful actors, and it's such an interesting character. Both versions reflect the director in many ways. One is visual, colorful, and romantic. The other is quite forensic and more sinister. Film, to me, often reflects the person at the helm of the camera."

In August, Damon told IndieWire that he "had trouble" watching the new series, "as beautiful as it was and as great as everybody was," because he associated the story with Minghella, who died in 2008.

Law almost turned down the role of Dickie, the actor explained in an interview with The Times of London published Saturday.

"It was delusion and madness," said Law, who was in-demand in the late ’90s. "There was a panic in my head that I was going to be typecast as this good-looking guy. That's where my 23-year-old brain was, yes. What I missed, idiotically, were the complexities of that role, but honestly? I just wanted to be taken seriously. 'I do theatre!' It was as simple as that and now I'd say to myself, 'Don't give yourself a hard time.'"

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