Stanley Tucci Reveals the Character He Would Never Play Again

Stanley Tucci has over 135 credits to his name and is known for an array of roles ranging from Dr. Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger and Ceaser Flickerman in The Hunger Games to Mitchell Garabedian in Spotlight and Paul Child in Julie & Julia. Recently, the actor had a chat with ET and revealed there is one role from his career that he would never want to play again. Interestingly, it’s the only role that landed him an Academy Award nomination. While chatting about his new Prime Video series, Citadel, the actor revealed his disdain for Goerge Harvey, his role in The Lovely Bones, the 2009 film by Peter Jackson that was based on Alice Sebold’s novel of the same name. 

“I would not play George Harvey again in The Lovely Bones, which was horrible,” Tucci shared. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.” He added, “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 … 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.”

Tucci continued, “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?” He added, “You can’t play into it. Then, you know, it’s over … Like, the movie’s over. You just have to play against it.”

What Has Stanley Tucci Said About His Marvel Experience? 

Tucci played  Dr. Abraham Erskine in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 and voiced the role again in What If…? in 2021. ComicBook.com‘s Chris Killian spoke with Marvel directors Russo Brothers, who helmed multiple films in the franchise including the second and third Captain America movies, along with Tucci about Citadel this week and asked about their separate Captain America experiences and if they ever talked about how they just barely missed each other while making the films. 

“No, we talked about Chris Evans all the time,” Tucci joked. More seriously, he added, “I was just sort of gushing with where they took that world…it was kind of amazing. For me, doing Captain America was just one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”

“We have on and off,” Joe Russo said. “Most of the conversation surrounds his food show, which we’re obsessed with. 90% of my conversations with Stanley are about where I can get a great meal.” 

Citadel premieres on April 28th.