Dakota Fanning to Co-Star in Ripley at Showtime, Opposite Andrew Scott

Dakota Fanning just booked her second Showtime gig of the month: The actress is set to co-star in Ripley, the premium cabler’s upcoming drama based on Patricia Highsmith’s quintet of Tom Ripley novels.

Fleabag‘s Andrew Scott will fill the title role in Showtime’s adaptation, which will follow his Tom Ripley as a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York. When Tom is hired by a wealthy businessman to travel to Italy and try to convince the man’s vagabond son to return home, his acceptance of the job “is the first step into a complex life of deceit,” the logline teases.

Fanning will play Marge Sherwood, an American living in Italy who suspects that Tom’s affability hides darker motives. She’ll also be joined by Johnny Flynn (Genius, Lovesick) as Dickie Greenleaf.

“Dakota Fanning is the perfect choice to play the deliciously complicated Marge opposite Andrew Scott’s Tom Ripley,” said Amy Israel, Showtime’s executive vice president of scripted programming. “She’s an actor that brings smarts and vulnerability to every part, with so much bubbling beneath the surface. We can’t wait to see her sink her teeth into this role in Steve Zaillian’s Ripley.”

Earlier this month, Fanning was also cast in Showtime’s political anthology The First Lady, where she’ll play Susan Elizabeth Ford, the daughter of President Gerald Ford (Aaron Eckhart) and Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer). Most recently, she led two seasons of TNT’s The Alienist as secretary-turned-detective Sara Howard.

Zaillian (The Night Of) will write and direct Ripley‘s entire first season. Production begins in Italy later this year.