With an array of roles on his acting résumé, Stanley Tucci admits there is one he would never want to revisit.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight published Wednesday, Tucci was asked which of his iconic roles he would never play again.
“I would not play George Harvey again in The Lovely Bones, which was horrible,” Tucci said. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.”
The film, based on the 2002 book of the same name by Alice Sebold, centers on a young girl who is murdered, as she watches her family and friends struggle to move on. Tucci portrayed the serial killer who murdered the young girl along with others.
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Tucci admits he had reservations about taking on the role of the murderer and questioned why director Peter Jackson chose him for the part.
“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,” Tucci recalled. “But 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,” he explained. “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?”
He continued, “You can’t play into it. Then, you know, it’s over. Like, the movie’s over. You just have to play against it.”
Tucci did, however, earn a supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role in the 2009 film.
Despite choosing the role as one he wouldn’t revisit, there are a few that the actor said he would “happily” play again.
“I would happily play Nigel in The Devil Wears Prada again. It was a really great experience,” he said. “I would play Paul Child again, when we did Julie and Julia. Those are really wonderful roles to play.”
Tucci is next set to star alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in Amazon Prime’s Citadel, premiering April 28.
