Imagine a world where Stanley Tucci, one of the most beloved actors working today, struggled to find work. Well, according to the man himself, after his supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada, opportunities were few and far between, which resulted in Tucci taking some less-than-ideal roles. In The Devil Wears Prada, Tucci played Nigel, a close adviser to Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) and a mentor to Andrea (Anne Hathaway) during her first days at Runway magazine. Although he didn’t receive any recognition from the Academy – unlike two of his co-stars – his performance was universally praised as the much-needed heart and comic relief of the film.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Stanley Tucci opened up about the downturn his career took following The Devil Wears Prada. It might come as a surprise to some, considering the movie was a box-office success and has become a pop-culture sensation (having recently been adapted into a West End musical, with music by Elton John), but the actor couldn’t book the gigs he wanted after the movie released. He said:
“After The Devil Wears Prada, I couldn’t get a job, and I didn’t quite understand that, but that’s just the way it was. So I went and did stuff that I didn’t necessarily want to do, but I did it.”
Tucci didn’t name the projects he reluctantly joined, but, looking at his filmography, it’s easy to guess which ones he might be referring to. After The Devil Wears Prada, Tucci appeared in The Hoax, 3 lbs, Blind Date, What Just Happened, and the criminally underrated Space Chimps, all of which received middling-to-poor reviews from critics. Tucci doesn’t know for certain why the acting gigs dried up after The Devil Wears Prada, but it’s a phenomenon he’s become used to:
“[My career has] always gone through these fluctuations, and sometimes it’s just the business. Sometimes it was personal reasons why you can’t work.”
The Devil Wears Prada 2 Is Officially in the Works
Thankfully for Stanley Tucci and his fans, the actor’s career brightened up again, having now appeared in Easy A, Captain America: The First Avenger, Burlesque,BoJack Horseman, Citadel, The Hunger Games, The Wind Rises, and more. Tucci is also tapped to return to his most beloved character, as he could be starring in the recently announced The Devil Wears Prada 2.
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The Devil Wears Prada 2 was confirmed to be in development in July of this year. Disney have tasked Aline Brosh McKenna (who wrote the first movie) with writing a sequel, 18 years after the release of the beloved original. The long awaited sequel reportedly follows Miranda Priestley and Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt). The Devil Wears Prada 2 will focus on the flipped dynamic between Emily and Miranda as print publishing has experienced a massive decline in recent years. Emily is now a major executive at a luxury online brand, and finally has power over Miranda. None of the original cast are confirmed to return for the sequel yet. Original director David Frankel has also been tapped to return, but this hasn’t been officially confirmed.
- Release Date
- June 30, 2006
- Runtime
- 109