Stanley tucci is gay
Watch: Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci talk to Yahoo about Supernova
By Ethan Alter
Some movies require a months-long casting process to lock in their stars. But Supernova writer/director Harry Macqueen found his leading men — acclaimed actors and longtime friends Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth — as soon as he finished the screenplay for his intimate drama about a gay couple whose decades-long romance is nearing a tragic end.
“Stanley was the first person we gave the script to,” the actor and filmmaker tells Yahoo Entertainment. “He loved it, and had already given it to Colin. I knew that they’d worked together, but I had no thought they were friends. The casting director and I always talked about hopefully being able to operate with two actors who knew each other, so to find out they had this shared history was a bit of a home run, really.” (Watch our video interview above.)
Read more: Stanley Tucci opens up about his first wife's death: 'You never stop grieving'
But the choice of Tucci and Firth for the movie’s fictional couple also came with real-world baggage. While
Stanley Tucci Says It&#;s &#;Fine&#; for Straight Actors to Play Gay Roles: &#;You&#;re Supposed to Play Different People. That&#;s the Whole Point of It&#;
Stanley Tucci appeared on BBC Radio 4’s &#;Desert Island Discs&#; demonstrate and weighed in on the debate over straight actors playing gay characters. The Oscar nominee, whose been married to Emily Blunt&#;s sister since , played gay roles in &#;The Devil Wears Prada&#; () and &#;Supernova&#; () and received critical acclaim for both performances.
&#;Obviously I believe that&#;s fine,&#; Tucci said about straight actors taking gay roles. &#;I am always very flattered when gay men come up to me and talk to me about ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ or they talk about ‘Supernova,’ and they say that, ‘It was just so beautiful,’ you know, ‘You did it the right way.&#; Because often, it’s not done the right way.”
&#;An actor is an actor is an actor,&#; Tucci added. &#;You’re supposed to play diverse people. You just are. That’s the whole gesture of it.&
Stanley Tucci Is the Latest Straight Actor to Defend Playing Gay Characters
In , Ewan McGregor sparked some controversy for playing for playing the title character in the miniseries Halston. Why? McGregor is straight; Halston was gay. At the time of the controversy, which McGregor addressed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, InsideHook&#;s Bonnie Stiernberg wrote a comprehensive analysis of the issues at hand, exploring the complexities of the issue from multiple angles.
That issue, however, hasn&#;t gone away — and the latest actor to promote similar questions as McGregor is Stanley Tucci, who is straight but has played gay characters in Supernova and The Devil Wears Prada. As IndieWire reports, Tucci addressed his work in the latter film in an interview on the BBC&#;s Desert Island Discs.
&#;I am always very flattered when gay men come up to me and talk to me about The Devil Wears Prada or they talk about Supernova, and they say that, ‘It was just so beautiful,’ you know, ‘You did it the right way,’&#; Tucci said in the interview. &#;Because often, it’s
Stanley Tucci Argues Straight Actors Can Play Gay Characters if Done &#;The Right Way&#;
Stanley Tucci spoke up in defense of straight actors playing gay characters, so long as it’s done “the right way,” and doesn’t slip into stereotypes, during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” program.
Tucci, who is straight, has played a handful of gay characters over the course of his career. Most recently, he and Colin Firth co-starred in Harry Macqueen’s Supernova, a romantic drama about a gay couple who take a road trip after Tucci’s character is diagnosed with onset dementia. His character Sean in the film Burlesque was gay, and most famously Tucci played the magazine art director Nigel Kipling in The Devil Wears Prada, a character who was gay, but whose sexuality wasn’t really a major point in the movie.
When asked about the question of straight actors taking these roles, Tucci said, “Obviously, I reflect that’s fine. I’m always very flattered when gay men come up to me a