Actors don’t come much more beloved than Stanley Tucci. With a film career including an incredible performance in emotional drama Supernova, colourful character Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games trilogy, and perhaps the best on-screen dad ever in Easy A, Tucci has also shone on the small screen. His latest project is epic treasure-hunt series La Fortuna, streaming now on AMC UK, and he stopped by the Pilot TV podcast to tell us all about it:
What drew you to your character in La Fortuna****, who is actually described in the first episode as a 'pirate'?
I mean, that's what drew me to him, that he's really complicated. He seems to be one thing, but turns out to be another thing. He's a very complex guy, and those are always great roles to play.
And how were you in terms of the themes and the subjects? Were you schooled up on your maritime law? Did you have to do any research or training?
No, not really, it was really all in the script. I read about the actual event – and this is sort of extrapolated from that, so this isn't what really happened there – but there was this guy who found all this treasure, and it became a very complicated lawsuit. So I read about that. But really, for me, it was all in the script.
It's wonderful to see [director] Alejandro Amenábar, an incredible filmmaker, take to the small screen. What was your relationship with his work before you came on board with this?
Well, he made one of my favorite movies of all time, which was The Sea Inside with Javier Bardem, quite a few years ago, and I just loved it. It was a movie that I could never get out of my mind. And then when they told me he was directing this, and he sent it to me, I was just thrilled. He is a really wonderful director. I would work with him again in a second.
The show pivots between two languages – how would you say that's important?
I love that. I think that's really important. I think it's great. I don't think I've ever done anything that was in two languages like this. I thought it was also really, really well done. A lot of times people do it, and it doesn't work because they're speaking English when they really should be speaking their native language. But this, I think, handles it brilliantly.
Something really enjoyable about your small screen career is the variation of your roles – with La Fortuna we've got this kind of epic, and it was only months ago we saw you as an animated octogenarian in Central Park****. What is driving you when it comes to small-scale projects, and the scope that they provide?
Diversity. I mean, that's the wonderful thing about it, is that all these roles are so diverse. I've been doing television since I started acting. My first television job was an episode of Miami Vice. I've always done television – because that was the work that came to me, and, you know, I had to make money. There were a lot of people, many years ago, who would say, 'Oh, no, I'm not doing television. I'm only gonna do movies and all that stuff.' But really, in the end, there were so many interesting things on television. And, of course, you have a very broad audience too. Then everything shifted when HBO was created. That really changed everything. Suddenly, they were telling stories you would normally tell in feature form for the small screen, and they were getting substantial name actors to be in them, and substantial directors to direct them. That changed the landscape completely. It's a really exciting time, I think. For actors, writers, directors; everybody.
You've been in two incredibly significant chapters in this new frontier of animation – Bojack Horseman and then Central Park as well. What is animation opening up for you as a performer?
It's great, I love doing animation. I've done a lot of animated features over the years, and it's just so much fun. I mean, it's probably the most fun you could have as an actor, because you don't have to put on makeup. You don't have to get up early. You don't have to shoot outside in the rain, or cold, or at night, you know. You go to a studio, and then you just pretend, you do some funny voices or whatever. It's like you're a kid, you know, it's like you're a kid just playing. Nobody has to see you. It's fantastic. I really love doing it.
The two projects you've mentioned were really, really fun. In fact, I have to go do some Central Park stuff tonight. And it's great fun to do it. There's another one that I'm doing here in England called Moley. It's based on these books where the characters are all moles living underground. They're these short little 10-15 minute shows, but they're absolutely adorable for kids. And also, because I have kids, I've always loved doing stuff that your kids can watch, because a lot of stuff I do, you don't ever want your kids to watch.
How do they feel about seeing their dad as a singing octogenarian millionaire living in this animated world?
See, the little ones haven't seen that. But the older ones have, and they get a kick out of it.
Looking forward, you've got Citadel coming up. It's so exciting to see the Russos come back to the small screen. Was that the appeal for you, going to work with those two after they've gone from Community to the MCU and back again?
Those guys are really cool. Citadel was really, really interesting. They got some great actors. First of all, Richard Madden is amazing. I've spoken to the Russo brothers since we finished filming, because they weren't there, but obviously they were very much involved in it. It was great. Not to mention the fact that, you know, I could commute from my house.
What are you hoping that people will take away from La Fortuna****?
Well, first of all, I just think there's so many wonderful actors in it. And I think it's really well written. It's complex and odd, in a way, but it's also very compelling. It's a really, really interesting story. I've never quite seen a story like this. And the fact that it's a co-production between Spain and America, I think that's just a wonderful thing.
La Fortuna airs Mondays at 9pm on AMC.