An iconic figure in film and TV, Stanley Tucci is probably best known for his more light-hearted roles in pop culture masterpieces like The Devil Wears Prada and Easy A. Being a true all-rounder of the industry however, it means a few of his more serious roles may spring to mind when you hear his name including his role as rapist and murderer George Harvey in the film adaptation of The Lovely Bones.
The 2009 film follows along the plotline of the book by Alice Sebold, telling the story of Susie Salmon – played by Saorise Ronan – after she is murdered by her next-door neighbour George Harvey. Watching from ‘the in-between’ Susie witnesses the fall-out from her death and its subsequent investigation.
And whilst Stanley was actually nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as George in the film, he recently revealed that it was one of the hardest of his career saying, ‘I would not play George Harvey again in The Lovely Bones, which was horrible. It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience simply because of the role.’
He continued, ‘I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role. I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job. I was like, “Why do you want me?” And he said, “Because you're funny.” And I thought, “OK.” But I understand what he was saying.
‘I think what he meant was that I wouldn't be too… not that I wouldn’t be serious about it, but that I wouldn't be overly dramatic about it. That I would throw it away a bit. Which is what you have to do when you're playing somebody who's that awful, right? You can't play into it. Then, you know, it's over. Like, the movie's over. You just have to play against it.’
And whilst Stanley isn’t keen to reprise potentially his darkest role to date, he later admitted that he ‘would happily play Nigel from The Devil Wears Prada Again’ and even gave us hope for a sequel to the iconic film.
He revealed, ‘I think they talked about it a lot but I’m not seeing anything happen with it yet.’ We hinging a lot onto his use of the word ‘yet’!