Former EastEnders star Maisie Smith and The Crown's Ed McVey are bringing the acclaimed stage production of Patricia Highsmith's classic thriller The Talented Mr Ripley to Dublin's Bord Gáis Energy Theatre this month.
McVey plays Tom Ripley, the "nobody" who comes into the orbit of glamorous couple Marge Sherwood (Smith) and Dickie Greenleaf (Bruce Herbelin-Earle) on the Italian Riviera.
Soon, "an innocent opportunity spirals into a chilling game of lies, identity theft, and murder".
Highsmith's source novel turned 70 last year, and it was made into an acclaimed 1999 film, directed by the late Anthony Minghella and starring Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood, and Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf.
In the 2024 Netflix miniseries, Andrew Scott played Tom Ripley alongside Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf.
When the 1999 film was released, McVey was only a toddler - and Smith wasn't born.
"I kind of fell in love with Marge the moment I read about her," Smith told RTÉ Entertainment.
"She's super smart and very independent and creative. She's a writer-photographer. She's in a relationship that's not totally committed. She has her own house in Italy. She's quite a valuable asset in the plot as well. She's just great!
"And she's American, and old American, it's fun. I think she's just nothing like I've ever played before. And, yeah, I'm very lucky to get to play Marge."
"Over time, he's just got more and more close to me," said McVey of his character, Tom Ripley.
"I think that as the characterisation that I've done has got more and more background, it feels like he's become more like me in terms of I'm not acting. [I'm] trying not to act on stage and I think trying to let him come more through me as much as possible, and that's been exciting."
"The idea is we don't want a second for Tom to be able to think," Smith continued.
"So, it's one scene after another, straight in, straight out. There's no room for relax. And I think you get that tense pressure watching it. You can see people sort of like hanging on to every word because it doesn't stop."
"It's very stripped back," said McVey.
"So, we don't try and put sets up that look like the Italian Riviera. Our lighting designer has done an incredible job of getting the atmosphere of heat and getting the atmosphere of vibe through lighting. The lighting's incredible, but our staging is very bare.
"Hopefully, if we do our job well enough, and I'm able to tell you to look at that sunset... If I see it, hopefully you'll see the sunset."
"Like reading a book - you'll imagine the thing you want to imagine that suits your description of the things," he added.
Adapted and directed by Mark Leipacher, The Talented Mr Ripley is at Dublin's Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from 10-14 March.
