30 Surprising Facts About Stanley Tucci That Fans Probably Didn’t Know

Stanley Tucci is one of the few versatile actors in the Hollywood industry who could actually transform into unrecognizable faces for their characters. With numerous accolades to his name, it is impossible to be unfamiliar with the actor and his filmography in some capacity. Be it the most villainous character of child molester, or the creator of superhero, Tucci has undoubtedly left his mark in the minds of the fans. Here are some interesting facts about the actor that will make you love him more:

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1.  His performance as Richard Cross in the TV series “Murder One,” from 1995 to 1996, earned him his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination, although he was dismissed from the series later.
2.  For his portrayal of columnist Walter Winchell in the 1998 HBO biographical TV film “Winchell” earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film as well as the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie.
3.  For his role as George Harvey in the 2009 movie “The Lovely Bones,” he had his skin lightened, and his chest and arm hair dyed to match his blondish-brown comb-over wig. He even wore false teeth to alter his jaw line.
4.  Being uncomfortable playing a child molester, he went on to alter his appearance as much as possible for the character. He wore blue contact lenses topped off with square-frame eyeglasses, a fake mustache, sideburns, and a lentil-filled fat suit to widen his girth for the role.
5.  This role, which he actually based on the serial killer Dennis Rader, the “BTK Killer,” earned him his one and only Academy Award nomination till date.
6.  Stanley Tucci Jr., was born on November 11, 1960 to Stanley Tucci, Sr., and Joan Tropiano in Peekskill, New York. His parents are of Italian descent, with roots in Calabria.
7.  His father was an art teacher at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York, while his mother was a secretary and writer. He grew up in Katonah, New York.
8.  He has two younger siblings. His sister Christine Tucci is also an actress. His cousin Joseph Tropiano is a screenwriter.
9.  He went to John Jay High School, where he was a member of the soccer as well as the baseball teams. Still, his prime focus was in the school’s drama club.
10.  With fellow actor Campbell Scott, who was also his high school friend, he gave incredible performances at the John Jay’s drama club productions.

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11.  It was actually Scott’s mother Colleen Dewhurst, who was also an actress, who first arranged for Tucci and Scott to have parts as soldiers in a Broadway play “The Queen and the Rebels.” It was with this performance that he earned his Actors’ Equity card in the year 1982.
12.  He, along with Scott, co-directed the comedy movie “Big Night,” in the year 1996, for which, he also co-wrote the screenplay with his cousin Joseph Tropiano.
13.  While he starred in the movie, his sister Christine Tucci and his mother Joan were also featured in the movie. His mother even wrote a cookbook for the movie.
14.  The film was nominated for “Grand Jury Prize,” at the Sundance Film Festival, while he and Joseph won the Independent Spirit Award for the Best First Screenplay.
15.  He went to the State University of New York at Purchase, graduating in acting in the year 1982. There he was classmates with the fellow actor Ving Rhames.
16.  In fact, he is so close with Rhames that it was Tucci who gave Rhames, who was born as Irving Rameses Rhames – the nickname of Ving, which he still uses as his professional name.
17.  In the year 1982, he started his career as a model, with his television commercial for Levi’s 501 jeans, being his most notable work.
18.  For his role as Roderick in the 2013 movie “Jack the Giant Slayer,” he was the only non-British actor in the entire cast, who had to adopt a British accent to fit in. Tucci had always been looking for a chance to portray a character with British accent and this movie game him the chance.
19.  It was reported that he had accepted the role of Dr. Erskine in the movie “Captain America: The First Avenger,” only because the character uses a German accent, which he had always wanted to do.
20.  In the movie “The Lovely Bones,” despite the violence being toned down to a great extent compared to the novel, Tucci had a very hard time portraying the role of George Harvey, particularly the scenes in which his character thinks about molesting Susie.

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21.  His performance as Johnny in the revival of Terrance McNally’s “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” in the year 2002, earned him his first Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
22.  He married Kathryn “Kate” Spath-Tucci in the year 1995. She was the former wife of Alexander r. Scott, elder brother of Campbell Scott.
23.  He and Kate had three children together, and the couple also raised Kate’s two children from her previous marriage. The couple went through rough patch, when Tucci left her for actress Edie Falco in the year 2002.
24.  However, after a short period of time, until the affair ended in March 2004 and Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer, Tucci returned to his wife and children. Kate died in the year 2009.
25.  He claimed in an LA Times interview with Emily Zemler that initially, in the 2020 movie “Supernova,” he was cast in the role of Sam and his co-star Colin Firth was cast as Tusker, in the pre-filming stage.
26.  But, when the duo was discussing the script with each other and how they would be shooting, Colin simply stated “Stanley, I think maybe we should switch roles,” for which Tucci agreed as he felt it was the right thing too.
27.  He met Felicity Blunt, an English literary agent, who is the elder sister of his co-star Emily Blunt, in the year 2010, at Emily’s wedding to John Krasinski. He got married to Felicity Blunt in a civil ceremony in summer 2012.
28.  The couple have two children – a son Matteo born in January 2015 and a daughter Emilia Giovanna born in April 2018, and currently reside in Barnes, London.
29.  He was one of the last actors to be cast in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada,” as initially Irish talk-show host Graham Norton had been the front runner for the role of Nigel.
30.  He hosted “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” the original CNN culinary travel series, which follows the actor on a food tour of Italy, in the year 2021. Tucci has often described this project to be his passion project.
31.  Stanley Tucci Net Worth: $25 Million