Stanley Tucci can do it all.
The 62-year-old actor is known for his diverse and memorable characters in films ranging from comedies to dramas. With over 130 acting credits to his name, according to his IMDB page, there’s one role he’d never want to play again.
“I wouldn’t play George Harvey again in ‘The Lovely Bones,’ which was awful,” Tucci told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s a great movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.”
Directed by Peter Jackson, “The Lovely Bones” is an adaptation of Alice Sebold’s bestselling novel of the same name. It follows a young girl, Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), who has been murdered and is watching over her family and killer George Harvey from the outside.
The ‘Citadel’ actor admitted that he tried to leave the role, but was persuaded by the director to stay.
“I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role. I was trying to get out of playing the part, which is crazy because I needed a job,” he said. “I was like ‘Why do you want me?’ And he said, ‘Because you’re funny.’ And I thought, ‘OK.’ But I understand what he said.”
“I think he meant… not that I wouldn’t take it seriously, but that I wouldn’t be too dramatic about it,” he continued. “That I would kind of throw it away. That’s what you gotta do when you’re playing someone that awful, right?
The role of the serial killer would earn Tucci his first Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category at the 2010 awards ceremony.
Tucci, meanwhile, did share the roles he’d “like” to reprise — and they’re lighter.
“I would love to play Nigel again in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. It was a really great experience,” Tucci said of his role as art director in the 2006 film.
When asked if there would be any chance of making a sequel to the film starring Anne Hathaway, he replied, “I think they’ve talked about it a lot, but I don’t see anything happening yet.”
In addition, the actor also noted another “great role” that he would see himself playing again.
“I would play Paul Child again, when we did ‘Julie & Julia,'” he said of the 2010 film where he played Meryl Streep’s husband. “Those are really wonderful roles to play.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
