Stanley Tuccihas been a chameleonic character actor for four decades, playing a wide range of roles, including many Mafia members. The actor has earned numerous accolades over his career, including six Emmys and two Golden Globe Awards. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing a serial killer inThe Lovely Bones. His recent roles include the Oscar-winningConclaveand Netflix’sThe Electric State, which hasn’t been received as warmly by critics.
Since Tucci is of Italian descent, he has received many offers for Mafia roles over his career. Tucci has taken roles as a foot soldier, a don, and a Mafia associate in titles such asQuick Change,Men of Respect, andBilly Bathgate. However, after playing a gangster in 1992’sThe Public Eyealongside Joe Pesci – who continued to star in Mafia movies likeMartin Scorsese’sCasino– Tucci grew tired of being typecast and took a 10-year hiatus from such roles. In turn,it took an exceptional offer to entice Tucci back into the Mafia milieu.
He Swore Them Off For A Decade
Road to Perditionconvinced Stanley Tucci to play a mafia role after swearing them off for a decade.Directed by Sam Mendes, based on the DC Comics of the same name, the 2002 film follows a mob enforcer and his son on a quest for revenge against the gangster responsible for killing their family, set in 1931 during the Great Depression.Stanley Tucci plays mobster Frank Nittoalongside a cast that includes Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Daniel Craig.
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During a recent appearance onDavid Tennant Does a Podcast With…,Stanley Tucci talked about what convinced him to play a mafia role inRoad to Perditionafter swearing them off for a decade. Tucci took on the role after Mendes reassured him that the script portrayed all characters, Irish and Italian alike, as morally questionable, rather than stereotyping Italians as inherently bad. Read Tucci’s full explanation below:
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. 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.
He Embraced His Italian Identity
Similar to his role inBilly Bathgate, where he portrayed the infamous gangster Charlie “Lucky” Luciano, Tucci played real-life Mafia member Frank Nitti, Al Capone’s right-hand man, inRoad to Perdition. His performance earned high praise, and recently, he explored another aspect of Italian identity by portraying Catholic CardinalAldo Bellini inConclave, to much acclaim.Road to Perditionproved to Tucci that embracing Mafia roles can be a way of exploring his heritage, not diminishing it. By accepting all facets of his Italian identity, both its dark and celebrated histories, Tucci has brought depth and authenticity to his performances.
