The movie that made Stanley Tucci break a 10-year promise: “Nobody was good”
For many Italian actors in cinema, the typecasting of playing a member of the mafia unfortunately becomes part of their bread and butter.
It’s a tale as old as time, with films like The Godfather popularising this genre and adding them to mainstream stories. But for the likes of Stanley Tucci, an actor who could not be more opposite to the typical mafia stereotype, he wasn’t particularly fond of playing these types of characters and preferred to hone his attention on expanding the Italian image in cinema.
While some actors have risen to fame through chilling portrayals of gangsters and mobsters, Tucci found his own niche in the industry and defied the labels that casting directors attempted to throw his way. From his performance in Greg Mottola’s indie gem The Daytrippers to his unnerving portrayal of a manic talk-show host, Tucci has become one of the most understated character actors of his generation.
That said, before finding his niche, the actor was given a number of roles that leaned into these stereotypes, playing tough guys and criminals in films like Beethoven, Undercover Blues, The Pelican Brief and Jury Duty. However, it was his annoyance at these roles that led him to take a leap and make an active decision to avoid them, leading to his delicious directorial debut in which he portrays a different aspect of the Italian immigrant experience.
Big Night follows two Italian brothers, Primo and Secondo, who run a floundering restaurant that happens to have the best Italian food in town. After hearing that Louis Prima will be in town, they decide to host a ‘big night’ – one last attempt to draw in customers and resurrect their family business.
It was perhaps this new dimension in Tucci’s career that permanently expanded the roles he was later offered, leading him away from the tired stereotypes that had previously dominated his career. But even after making such a firm decision to steer away from characters of the mobster persuasion, he later found himself being tempted back to this domain after a very enticing offer from Sam Mendes.
Road to Perdition was the director’s 2002 film, with a star-studded cast that saw everyone from Tom Hanks to Daniel Craig reconvene under the silver screen. But for Tucci, it was a blast from the past after being convinced to play an Italian mobster.
The actor said, “I did it when Sam Mendes asked me to do Road to Perdition. Because it was Sam Mendes and nobody was good in the script.”
Tucci expanded on how these characters were played in the film, saying, “…the Irishmen and the Italians were all questionable…. It wasn’t like you’re bad because you’re Italian, which is normally the way Italians are portrayed.”
While Tucci had successfully managed to avoid these roles for over ten years, the lure of a genuinely well-written character was enough to bring him back over to the dark side, reprising a role from the past, but this time, doing so with an added layer of much-needed substance.
