Stanley Tucci is one of the most respected actors in the biz. He’s won three Emmys, two Golden Globes and is a Tony, Grammy and Academy Award nominee. And he’s one of the kings of receiving the trademark “and” when listing the cast in a movie. Come on: tell me you haven’t seen “and Stanley Tucci” in at least a dozen films.
He’s receiving major awards buzz for his performance in the new drama “Supernova”. Studio Bleecker Street is campaigning him in the Supporting Actor category, though the Golden Globes overturned the request and is putting him in Lead Actor in a Drama contention. He’ll possibly join Hugh Grant (“Florence Foster Jenkins”), Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”), Christian Bale (“The Big Short”), Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”), Kate Winslet (“The Reader”) and Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”) as someone who switches back and forth between the lead and supporting categories throughout awards season.
Tucci has collaborated with pal Meryl Streep several times, giving terrific performances as Nigel in 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada” and Paul Child in 2009’s “Julie & Julia”. A few months later, he received his Oscar nom for a different movie, “The Lovely Bones”. 2010 saw Tucci pair-up with Patricia Clarkson as a delightful husband-wife duo in “Easy A”, the comedy that made Emma Stone a star.
A franchise soon came calling, with Tucci playing talk show host and commentator Cesar Flickerman in “The Hunger Games” series from 2012-2015. He has some great scenes, especially in the first two films. And the hair, makeup and wardrobe… fantastic! To wrap-up 2015, Tucci was part of the SAG Awards winning ensemble of “Spotlight”, with Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Brian D’Arcy James and Liev Schreiber. As Mitchell Garabedian, Tucci’s scenes were filled with honesty and tenacity.
Tucci has re-teamed with Keaton on another “based on a true story” drama, “Worth”. It premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival but still has not found a distributor. It’d be a shame for the movie to just float away without reaching an audience. Maybe… partly based on momentum from “Supernova”… this will be the year “Worth” gets released.