Stanley Tucci recently told Entertainment Tonight that he would never play his role in “The Lovely Bones” again. The actor starred as the serial killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson’s divisive adaptation of Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel. Tucci earned an Oscar nomination in the supporting actor category for his performance, but ironically it was a role he tried to get out of before filming started.
“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.”
“I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role,” Tucci continued. “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, ‘Okay.’ 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 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.”
In both the novel and the film adaptation, George Harvey murders his 14-year-old neighbor (played by Saoirse Ronan). Tucci lost the Oscar to Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds.” While he’d never touch a role like the one in “The Lovely Bones” again, Tucci said there are roles that he would “happily” reprise.
“I would happily play Nigel in‘The Devil Wears Prada’again. It was a really great experience,” Tucci said. “I would play Paul Child again, when we did‘Julie and Julia.’ Those are really wonderful roles to play.”
Tucci’s latest role is a supporting one in Prime Video’s spy series “Citadel,” which is headlined by Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The series debuts April 28 on the streamer.
