Stanley Tucci’s 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

Stanley Tucci grew up playing sports but interested in the drama club. Close friends with future actor and director Campbell Scott as a teen, they both got their first break when Scott’s mother arranged for them to appear as soldiers in the play The Queen and the Rebels with her on Broadway in 1982. Since then, Tucci hasn’t looked back.

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He’s become an accomplished character actor, always following up a best friend role with that of a father or an antagonist. Tucci has more than 130 acting credits to his name, and he’s done a great job at making sure he truly embodies every single role he plays from the cartoonish to the mellow. In addition to acting, Tucci has also worked as a producer, director, and writer, a true quadruple threat in the industry.

stanleytucci_regrets_oscarwinningrole Related Stanley Tucci Regretted Playing The Role That Got Him An Oscar Nomination

Despite being nominated for an Oscar for this movie, Stanley Tucci has called his acclaimed role ‘horrible’ and one he’d never play again.

10 Burlesque (2010)

As Sean

Stanley Tucci and Cher watching someone from the bar in Burlesque
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Burlesque PG-13DramaDocumentaryMusicalRomance

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*Availability in US Director Steve Antin Release Date November 23, 2010 Writers Steve Antin , Susannah Grant , Keith Merryman Cast Cher , Christina Aguilera , Stanley Tucci , Kristen Bell , Cam Gigandet , Alan Cumming Runtime 100 minutes

Burlesque didn’t make a huge splash at the box office when it landed in theaters in 2010. It also didn’t make a huge splash on the award show circuit. The movie was viewed as a formulaic romance by a lot of critics, but one thing that was universally praised by the same people who lambasted the movie was the performance of the cast.

Christina Aguilera and Cher were the stars of the movie, but Stanley Tucci appeared as the right hand of Cher’s Tess. Tess owned her own burlesque club, which was in daner of shutting down, while Sean was her longtime best friend and one of the people who helped keep the club running by being her sounding board, mending costumes, and taking the young women in the show under his wing.

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Tucci is a quiet and grounding force in a movie that is otherwise steeped in melodrama. The movie has gone on to become a cult classic that has inspired a stage show adaptation as well as drag show adaptations.

9 Conspiracy (2001)

As Adolf Eichman

A group of Nazi soldiers in a meeting in the TV movie Conspiracy

Stanley Tucci hasn’t been involved in nearly as many television projects as he has big screen features. Conspiracy is the rare made-for-TV movie on his resume. The movie takes a fictional approach to the 1942 Wannsee Conference in which German Nazi leaders want to make sure other government officials comply with their Final Solution during the Holocaust during World War II. It’s not exactly the subject matter most audiences want to see play out, but it does provide a thoughtful psychological examination of those involved.

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The movie’s script is based on the only surviving transcript of the meeting, making the dialogue mostly authentic, but everything else is put together by those working on the film. The scene initially plays out as though the higher ranking officials are looking for input before it’s revealed that sterilzation and murder are what the Nazi regime expects everyone in the room to comply with. It’s an examination of one of the darkest moments in humanity.

Tucci plays the head of the Gestapo, one of the people attending the meeting. It’s Eichman who is responsible for explaining the gas chambers to the other attendees. Critics especially praised by Tucci and Kenneth Branagh for their work after Branagh talked at length about loathing the people they were playing.

Tucci won a Golden Globe for his work.

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8 Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

As Abraham Erskine

Captain America The First Avenger Poster

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ScreenRant logo 7/10 11 8.7/10 Captain America: The First Avenger PG-13SuperheroActionAdventureScience Fiction

Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 superhero movie starring Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, a weak patriotic civilian who becomes the test subject for the military’s Super Soldier project. The film was the fifth film in the long-running MCU franchise and also starred Samuel L. Jackson, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, and Sebastian Stan.

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*Availability in US Director Joe Johnston Release Date July 22, 2011 Writers Christopher Markus , Stephen McFeely , Joe Simon , Jack Kirby Cast Chris Evans , Hayley Atwell , Hugo Weaving , Sebastian Stan , Tommy Lee Jones , Samuel L. Jackson , Dominic Cooper , Stanley Tucci , Toby Jones Runtime 124 Minutes

Some might not think that Tucci’s brief sojourn into the Marvel Cinematic Universe deserves to be under his best movies, but it does. Tucci is an old-school character actor and that is exemplified here as he adopts an accent and completely different mannerisms to play Dr. Erskine.

Dr. Erskine, someone who was once forced to work for German scientists during World War II, defects to the United States and uses all of his knowledge to help create the super soldier serum used on Steve Rogers. He is one of the few people who believes that Rogers has what it takes to be Captain American. Unfortunately, he’s killed when his experiment occurs, so his time in the movie really is brief.

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Tucci has since reprised the role in voice over work for the animated series Marvel’s What If…? On Disney+ as well.

7 Easy A (2010)

As Dill Penderghast

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ScreenRant logo 8/10 7.3/10 Easy A PG-13RomanceComedyDrama

Inspired by The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Easy A stars Emma Stone as Olive Penderghast, a young high school student who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a rumor mill when a lie she tells her best friend about losing her virginity spirals out of control. Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, and Stanley Tucci are part of the supporting cast. 

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*Availability in US Director Will Gluck Release Date September 17, 2010 Writers Bert V. Royal Cast Patricia Clarkson , Malcolm McDowell , Penn Badgley , Stanley Tucci , Lisa Kudrow , aly michalka , Dan Byrd , Emma Stone , Thomas Haden Church , Amanda Bynes Runtime 92 minutes

When most audiences think of Easy A, they think of Emma Stone’s seemingly effortless charm and comedic ability in one of her earlier roles. Some of that charm and comedy is aided by the actors who play her family. Tucci appears in the role of her father.

It’s rare, especially in teen comedies, to see such supportive parents on film. Tucci’s Dill, however, is always there for Stone’s Olive and ready to talk, even if he doesn’t always quite know what’s going on in her life. The character has an easy sense of humor that translates to a fun dynamic between Oliver and him. It also means he gets some great delivery on otherwise simple lines like, “who told you?” when Oliver’s younger brother makes a comment about being adopted.

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Though Tucci wasn’t specifically recognized for his work, the movie did receive a slew of award show nominations following its release.

6 The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

As Nigel Kipling

The Devil Wears Prada Movie Poster

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ScreenRant logo 9/10 10/10 The Devil Wears Prada PG-13ComedyDrama

Based on Lauren Weisberger’s novel, The Devil Wears Prada stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs, an aspiring journalist who, after landing a job with top New York fashion designer Miranda Priestly, gets drawn deeper and deeper into the cutthroat world of the fashion industry. Meryl Streep stars alongside Hathaway as Miranda Priestly, with a further cast that includes Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, and Simon Baker. 

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*Availability in US Director David Frankel Release Date June 30, 2006 Writers Aline Brosh McKenna , Lauren Weisberger Cast Anne Hathaway , Stanley Tucci , Meryl Streep , Adrian Grenier , Emily Blunt , Simon Baker , Tracie Thoms , Rich Sommer Runtime 109 Minutes

…Tucci’s highest-grossing movie he appeared in until
Captain America
was released.

Inspired by the novel of the same name, The Devil Wears Prada holds a pop culture crown for movies of the early 2000s. It’s a comedy without the focus being solely on romance. It’s also a fantastic showcase for the talent of the actors in it. In addition to Tucci, Anne Hathaway is the lead while Meryl Streep is her boss and the movie’s antagonist for much of the story. Emily Blunt plays Hathaway’s coworker who is seemingly dying to curry favor with those who outrank her in the Runaway Magazine office.

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The movie follows a young woman (Hathaway) who is hired as an assistant to the head of a fashion magazine right out of school. While she knows nothing about fashion, she desires a more serious job in journalism, and she decides to endure the office hostility in order to use the connections it offers to find a job better suited to her.

Tucci appears as Nigel, the magazine’s art director. He is one of the few friendly faces in the office as he realizes that the young woman is in over her head and helps her dress for the job she has and learn a few tricks of the trade. If this was a Cinderella story, he would be like her fairy godmother. It’s a role very similar to the one Tucci would play in Burlesque a few years later.

Since it’s premiere, the movie has had a huge impact on pop culture, ushering in several movies and television shows that have tried to create the magic of the dynamic between the cast. It also happened to be Tucci’s highest-grossing movie he appeared in until Captain America was released.

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A composite image of Emily Blunt looking on angrily while holding a cell phone in front of Meryl Streep looking surprised in The Devil Wears Prada Related The Devil Wears Prada 2: Confirmation, Cast, Story & Everything We Know

The 2006 smash-hit comedy The Devil Wears Prada is finally getting a sequel after nearly 20 years, and there are already exciting details.

5 Murder One (1995-1996)

As Richard Cross

Two men in suits having a serious discussion in the series Murder One

Murder One was a unique legal drama and crime procedural for its time in the sense that it wasn’t a straight-up procedural. When it debuted in 1995, the series focused on one murder case for the entire season as the overall arc of the show, while other cases could be solved in a more episodic format.

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When Tucci appeared on the show in the first season, he was a main cast member, but almost an entirely new cast was brought in for the new cases in season 2. Tucci starred as the first suspect in the murder of the woman at the center of the storyline. His character isn’t the one on trial, but it’s a very different role than the ones he’s become known for. Richard Cross is a morally ambiguous man who is involved with a lot of nonprofit causes. While he’s still charming in the role, that moral ambiguity isn’t something so many of his later characters have.

Tucci was nominated for an Emmy for his role and won a Satellite Award.

4 Spotlight (2015)

As Mitchell Garabedian

ScreenRant logo 8/10 Spotlight RCrimeBiographyDrama

Based on a true story, Spotlight is a drama film that tells the story of reporters who are privy to terrible details about goings on within the Roman Catholic Church. When several allegations are levied against the church, the Boston Globe sends out a team of reporters to investigate John Geoghan, who was accused of molesting several children. Believing there is a cover-up, the team goes to incredible lengths to find the truth and prove the guilt and complicity of both John and the church.

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*Availability in US Director Tom McCarthy Release Date November 25, 2015 Writers Josh Singer , Tom McCarthy Cast John Slattery , Rachel McAdams , Michael Keaton , Jamey Sheridan , Stanley Tucci , Billy Crudup , Brian D’Arcy James , Mark Ruffalo , Liev Schreiber Runtime 128minutes
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While Spotlight features a mostly fictional story, it is inspired by real events. It chronicles the early 2000s investigative efforts of the Boston Globe’s “spotlight” team into the cover-up of sexual abuse by employees of the Catholic Church. The spotlight team, at the time, was the longest-running team of investigative journalists. They tackled stories that would require months or years of work and ran their stories in multiple parts with follow-ups completed by the journalists involved.

Tucci doesn’t play one of the journalists. Instead, he plays a lawyer who represents a victim of sexual abuse and passes along information to the spotlight team about the possibility of a larger-scale coverup existing. Over the course of the movie, the team finds evidence that more than 80 members of the church were alleged abusers and those who outranked them new about their actions.

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Spotlight was praised for its commitment to historical accuracy despite being a fictional story. The cast was also universally praised, winning several ensemble awards from film festivals and critics.

Spotlight
was nominated for six Oscars, winning two, three Golden Globes, and seven Satellite Awards, winning four.

3 The Hunger Games Franchise (2012-2015)

As Caesar Flickerman

The Hunger Games Franchise Poster The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a multi-movie franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. The films are based on the young adult dystopian book series by author Suzanne Collins. The first film was released in 2012, followed by Catching Fire in 2013, Mockingjay Part 1 in 2014, and Mockingjay Part 2 in 2015. In 2023, the fifth film in the series was released, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Cast Jennifer Lawrence , Josh Hutcherson , Liam Hemsworth , Elizabeth Banks , Woody Harrelson , Stanley Tucci , Donald Sutherland , Lenny Kravitz , Willow Shields , Phillip Seymour Hoffman , Rachel Zegler , Tom Blyth , Viola Davis , Peter Dinklage , Hunter Schafer , Jason Schwartzman Created by Suzanne Collins First Film The Hunger Games Expand

…he appears perfectly at home in the glitz and glamour that the oppressive regime presents to the public.

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For someone who has such a long and storied career as Tucci, it might be surprising to see one of his best movies is a young adult franchise inspired by a trilogy of YA novels. The dystopian Hunger Games movies are a highlight in his film resume because of how effortlessly he appears to play the character of Caesar.

The movies follow the journey of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) after she volunteers to take her sister’s place in a televised survival game and accidentally becomes the leader of a revolution. Tucci’s Caesar is a larger-than-life personality who interviews the participants in the Hunger Games and is a pawn of the Capitol government. Innuendo rolls off his tongue while he appears perfectly at home in the glitz and glamour that the oppressive regime presents to the public.

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Tucci’s character heavily contrasts the fear and uncertainty that Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) face in the first movie as well as the cynicism of the tributes in the second movie. His character work throughout his career made him the perfect choice for the role.

A composite image of Hamish Abernathy looking suspiciously in front of the Hunger Games Logo Related The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping – Release Date, Story & Everything We Know

The world of Panem is coming to life again in a brand new movie, and there’s already a ton of news regarding The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

2 The Lovely Bones (2009)

As George Harvey

lovely-bones

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10/10 The Lovely Bones PG-13SupernaturalThriller

After her murder, fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon watches over her family, friends, and killer from the “In-Between.” Her family and community grieve her death and try to find justice for Susie. Meanwhile, Susie struggles to move on to the afterlife while lacking closure in both her life and her murder.

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*Availability in US Director Peter Jackson Release Date December 11, 2009 Writers Fran Walsh , Philippa Boyens , Peter Jackson Cast Mark Wahlberg , Saoirse Ronan , Stanley Tucci , Michael Imperioli , Susan Sarandon Runtime 135 minutes

Based on the novel by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones follows the final moments of a 14-year-old girl’s (Saoirse Ronan) life as she is murdered by a neighbor before her spirit decides to watch over her family instead of moving on to the afterlife. Tucci plays the neighbor responsible for her death in one of his darker roles.

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Tucci has played the villains of movies a handful of times in his career, and it’s impressive to see him turn from his usual charming and effervescent characters to darker and colder work. Tucci has proven himself as a true character actor time and again, and The Lovely Bones is a great example of that work.

Tucci told the Wall Street Journal he studied the writings of criminal profiler John E. Douglas (whose work was the basis for the series Mindhunter) to prepare for the role. He ended up being nominated for a BAFTA, an Oscar, and a Golden Globe for his work.

1 Big Night (1996)

As Secondo

0150882_poster_w780.jpg Big Night RDramaRomance

Big Night is a drama film that follows the story of two Italian brothers, Primo and Secondo, who own a struggling restaurant in New Jersey. The brothers decide to put all their hopes into one special evening, where they will prepare a feast of a lifetime in an effort to save their business from financial ruin.

Director Campbell Scott , Stanley Tucci Release Date September 20, 1996 Writers Joseph Tropiano , Stanley Tucci Cast Stanley Tucci , Tony Shalhoub , Minnie Driver , Allison Janney , Ian Holm Runtime 107 Minutes

Big Night
was a true labor of love for Tucci, who grew up in an Italian-American family.

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Stanley Tucci drew on his own knowledge of Italian-American families when he starred in Big Night with Tony Shalhoub. The duo played a pair of Italian immigrant brothers struggling to maintain their restaurant as they usually disagree on everything. They’re offered positions at their uncle’s restaurant back in Italy and jobs working for an American competitor, but they refuse, wanting to have something of their own.

The movie showcases amazing food and stellar performances from both actors. Tucci, however, wasn’t just responsible for starring in the movie. He made his feature directorial debut with the movie, co-directing with longtime friend Campbell Scott who he went to high school with. He also co-wrote the movie with his cousin Joseph Tropiano and acted as a producer for the movie. Big Night was a true labor of love for Tucci, who grew up in an Italian-American family.

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Big Night did well on the film festival circuit, with recognition for the writing, directing, and acting from every festival in which it participated. It was nominated for Best First Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards and won Best Screenplay. It was the first time Stanley Tucci was recognized for his work behind the camera as well as in front of it.