Stanley Tucci Tried To Get Out Of His Role In Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Based on the novel by Alice Sebold, Peter Jackson's 2009 film "The Lovely Bones" is the least-acclaimed film in his career. In "The Lovely Bones," Saoirse Ronan plays a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon who is targeted by a creepy serial killer, George, played by Stanley Tucci. In a shocking turn of events, George kills Susie early in the film. The character remains a part of the action, however, as her ghost is able to look down from Heaven to check in on her family. In the aftermath of her death, Susie's family (including Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, and Rachel Weisz) mourns her loss but then takes to investigating Susie's murder, finding that George likely did it. Occasionally, Susie can reach down and influence things. Late in the film, she even possesses another person.
"The Lovely Bones" was ill-advised from the start. Roger Ebert gave the film one-and-a-half stars, objecting to Jackson's irresponsible handling of its messages; it seems that teenagers have a lot of cool superpowers to look forward to should they be assaulted and murdered. By Ebert's estimation: a serial killer is shown as a heroic figure helping teenage girls reach a playground of equally dead buddies, and evil is a necessary, wistful element of the universe. Ebert wasn't the only one to lambaste the film; it currently holds a mere 31 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tucci received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as George, and his slimy, "lecherous librarian" look was genuinely scary. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, however, Tucci declared that he would never play a part like that again. To this day, he still seems a little baffled as to why Jackson wanted him for that role.
Why me?
Playing such an evil character, it seems, was difficult for Tucci. He said:
"I would not play George Harvey again in 'The Lovely Bones,' which was horrible. [...] It's a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role."
Tucci previously admitted, back in 2009, that he tried to pass on the role at the urging of his wife. The subject matter was too dark, he said, as it centered around the assault and murder of a teenage girl. In 2009, he even said that he couldn't focus on the book because of its subject matter. Even though Tucci was desperate for a job, he felt he couldn't handle George.
Of course, back in the ET interview, Tucci recalls being curious as to why Jackson saw a vicious serial killer in him. The answer, the actor found, was a little strange and not entirely satisfying. It seems it was Tucci's comedic talents that Jackson was drawn to. What that meant, however, Tucci had to suss out on his own. He said:
"I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role. I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job," he recalled. "But I was like, 'Why do you want me?' And he said, 'Because you're funny.' And I thought, 'Okay.' But I understand what he was saying. [...] I think what he meant was that I wouldn't be too — not that I wouldn't be serious about it, but that I wouldn't be overly dramatic about it. That I would throw it away a bit. Which is what you have to do when you're playing somebody who's that awful, right?"
Tucci's humor led to a naturalness that a more "dramatic" performance wouldn't communicate.
The sting
Stanley Tucci, Saoirse Ronan, and composer Brian Eno were recognized for their work on "The Lovely Bones" come award season, but Jackson specifically was implicated as the perpetrator of a terrible movie. Ebert said "The Lovely Bones" was "entirely his fault." The reviews were so bad, in fact, and the general reaction so negative, it seems to have spooked Jackson from fictional work altogether.
After "The Lovely Bones," Jackson would push himself through a massive career change, focusing on the technology of filmmaking and shifting to documentaries. Although he famously didn't want to direct them, Jackson — George Lucas style — made a disappointing, high-tech prequel trilogy to a celebrated series of blockbusters. His three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" were filmed at a high frame rate, which was Jackson's attempt to push where blockbuster feature films were going to go in the future. High frame rates haven't widely caught on yet, but they looked way better in "Avatar: The Way of Water" than in the "Hobbit" movies. They may be the future yet.
After that, Jackson turned to documentary films. For his 2018 film "They Shall Not Grow Old," the director used state-of-the-art technology to "update" and colorize WWI footage, shot in 1915. He also adapted it to 3D, trying to make the century-old film look as modern as possible. As of this writing, Jackson most recently completed a three-episode miniseries about the Beatles, which made extensive use of footage from the band's final recording sessions together. "The Beatles: Get Back" was widely acclaimed.
Jackson currently has no plans to direct any additional scripted features.