Stanley Tucci says Alberto Giacometti reignited his love for the art of filmmaking

Tucci said he felt under pressure as it had been nearly 10 years since his last stint behind the camera
Support: Stanley Tucci and Felicity Blunt
Dave Benett
Jennifer Ruby17 August 2017
The Weekender

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Stanley Tucci says he felt added pressure directing his latest movie as he hadn’t been behind the camera in a nearly a decade — but the experience has reinvigorated his love of filmmaking.

The US actor, producer, director and writer spent 13 years making Final Portrait, about the life of Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti. Starring Geoffrey Rush as Giacometti and Armie Hammer as his biographer and subject James Lord, it chronicles the creation of the artist’s last painting.

“I did feel a bit of pressure because I hadn’t done one for so long, but I loved it. I would do it every day if I could,” Tucci, 56, told the Standard.

“The creative process, art and the artist’s place in society is a really interesting thing to me.”

The star of The Hunger Games and The Devil Wears Prada spent years plucking up the courage to adapt Lord’s book. “It’s a book that I carried around for many, many years and finally I got up the guts to write to Lord and get the rights,” he said.

“I love Giacometti. I love his work and work ethic and how articulate he was about the creative process. He was extraordinary.”

Tucci admitted he rarely feels satisfied with his work: “I never feel like I ever achieve what I want to achieve. I guess what I wanted to achieve was showing the act of creativity and the thoughts of an artist. Sometimes when I watch it I’m happy, other times not.”

New Yorker Tucci moved to London after marrying Emily Blunt’s sister Felicity in 2012. The couple had a son in 2015. He has three children from his marriage to his first wife Kate, who died in 2009.

He said of London: “Oh my god I love it, I love it so much I can’t tell you.” He has started saying words like “tomato” and “basil” in a British accent. “My kids, they have British inflections but not British accents. But my two-and-a-half-year-old sounds like the Queen of England.”

Tucci directed films including Big Night and The Imposters, with 2007’s Blind Date his last foray.

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Final Portrait is in UK cinemas from Friday.

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