Out doing promotion for Amazon’s “Citadel” series, actor Stanley Tucci spoke with Entertainment Tonight about his various roles on screen and which ones he would return to.
Whilst he has only great things to say about his time with “Easy A,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Julie and Julia,” “Big Night” and more, there’s absolutely one character he would not touch again.
In fact, he confirmed he almost tried to get out of playing it – the role of the child serial killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson’s 2009 film adaptation of the novel “The Lovely Bones”.
That film follows a girl (Saoirse Ronan) murdered by Tucci’s killer who then helps her father (Mark Wahlberg) solve the crime from beyond the grave. Speaking about the role, Tucci says:
“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.
I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job. But I was like, ‘Why do you want me?’ And [Jackson] 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?”
Tucci received his first Oscar nomination for his performance as Harvey. He’ll next be re-teaming with “Citadel” producers the Russo Brothers on the Netflix blockbuster “The Electric State” which hits the streamer sometime next year.
