Character actor Tucci becomes leading man in Amenábar’s ‘La Fortuna’
By Magdalena Tsanis
San Sebastian, Spain, Sep 27 (EFE).- Stanley Tucci, one of the most recognizable character actors in American cinema, takes on a starring role in Alejandro Amenábar’s, “La Fortuna,” the Spanish director’s first fiction series based on the Odyssey that premiers Thursday on streaming platform Movistar+.
Tucci, who has portrayed the stylist of Miranda (Meryl Streep) in “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), the lawyer for victims of abuse in the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” (2015), a henchman of gangster Al Capone in “Road to Perdition” (2002) and host in “The Hunger Games” (2012), now plays captain treasure hunter Jack Wild out of his love for the Spanish director.
“I liked the script, I liked the character and I loved Alejandro. ‘The Sea Inside’ is one of my favorite movies, and I never forgot it from the moment I saw it,” he said in an interview with Efe during his recent visit to the San Sebastian Film Festival.
The Italian-American actor made his film debut in John Huston’s “Prizzi’s Honor” (1985) and has forged his career with memorable supporting characters who sometimes steal the spotlight from the protagonists.
“No matter whether you’re a character actor or a lead, you have to be truthful with what you’re doing and engage with the other actor and make sure you’re telling the whole story, not just your story – that you’re consistent with the tone of the piece as a whole, and not trying to show off, not trying to be splashy. Just stick with the tone and tell the story,” he said.
“Part of your job is to change yourself to what’s appropriate for the role. Sometimes that requires a lot, sometimes it doesn’t require much of anything,” he added.
For his portrayal of Captain Wild in “La Fortuna,” a series that chronicles the litigation between the Spanish government and a U.S. company over the treasure on a Spanish frigate sunk in 1804 in the Atlantic, he said that it was easy to play the bad guy although it was not without its challenges.
“It’s delicate, because you don’t want him to be a ‘bad guy’, twirling his mustache. You don’t want him to be just evil from the beginning. He’s a person, so that’s your job: to make it a full person who in the end doesn’t happen to be the nicest guy.”
Tucci made his directorial debut 25 years ago with “Big Night,” the story of two Italian brothers who open a restaurant in New Jersey, and has directed a total of five feature films, including “Joe Gould’s Secret” (2000) and a film about the painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti.
