Catching Up With Stanley Tucci
By January Holmes, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Apr. 8–Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor Stanley Tucci has never been on a blind date.
Not once, ever, he said, laughing at the thought during a telephone interview Monday.
But Tucci, known for film roles such as the fashion-guru Nigel in “The Devil Wears Prada” and mob boss Frank Nitti in “Road to Perdition,” finds himself in an odd dating predicament in his independent flick, “Blind Date.”
A dark film infused with humor, “Blind Date” features a married couple trying to reconnect after a devastating lost by going on a series of blind dates.
“I can’t say that it’s an easy film, but I can say that it’s a very rewarding film,” said the 47-year-old.
The movie is the centerpiece of the Sarasota Film Festival and will be screened at 7 p.m. Friday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday at the Hollywood 20 in Sarasota. Tucci, who also directed the movie, is expected to attend.
In addition, Tucci will speak about his film and his acting career during the festival’s “In Conversations with . . .” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Historic Asolo Theater. He will also be honored at the festival’s 10th anniversary ball at the Longboat Key Club and Resort on Saturday. Friend and fellow actor Steve Buscemi will introduce him at the event.
It may be a fitting gesture, since Buscemi — who attended the festival last year — set Tucci up with “Blind Date” a few years ago.
At the time, Buscemi was working on “Interview,” part of a trilogy of Theo Van Gogh films that the Dutch film director planned to remake in English before he was murdered in 2004. “Interview” is about a political reporter who reluctantly interviews a celebrity. Buscemi asked Tucci if he was interested in taking one of Van Gogh’s other two films — “Blind Date” or “1-900,” about a couple who meets through a sex chat line.
Tucci was drawn to “Blind Date,” which, like “Interview,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
“I liked the sort of emotional complexity,” Tucci said of the piece.
Shot within seven days in a bar setting in Belgium, the film explores a marriage that is having trouble staying afloat, weighed down by guilt and depression. Tucci stars as Don. Patricia Clarkson plays his wife, Janna.
“They are two people who are estranged from each other because of this terrible loss they have,” Tucci said. “I think that they had a great relationship and they have suffered terribly. But they are not the kind of people who would go through standard channels to make themselves healthy again.”
Instead, they decide to “blind” date each other, pretending to be different people so they can find healing.
“Well, the thing is they’re not really hugely different personalities,” Tucci said. “It’s very subtle. It’s not like they come in and they’re completely disguised and do an accent or something. . . . It’s that idea of a relationship to take them some place hopefully deeper each time.”
Though not an exact copy of Van Gogh’s original film, it’s very similar, said Tucci, who tweaked the dialogue and structure of some of the scenes.
As an actor, Tucci said he enjoys taking on juicy roles “you can sink your teeth into, whether its comic or dramatic.”
Lately, he’s found a wealth of such roles in his most recent projects, which includes “Kit Kettredge: An American Girl,” to be released in July. In a few weeks, he’ll be working on the set of “Julie and Julia” with Meryl Streep. The pair will portray Julia and Paul Child in the film.
As for “Blind Date,” Tucci hopes local audiences will be touched by it.
“People, they are a little dumbstruck at the end of it,” he said. “It’s a pretty powerful ending.”
Stanley Tucci’s appearances
Stanley Tucci fans can see the award-winning actor during the Sarasota Film Festival’s “In Conversations with . . .” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Historic Asolo Theater. Tickets are $20.
His film,”Blind Date,” will be screened at 7 p.m. Friday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday at the Hollywood 20 in Sarasota. Tucci is expected to attend. Tickets are $9.
Tucci also will be honored at the festival’s 10th Anniversary Ball with Charlize Theron, beginning 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Longboat Key Club and Resort, islandside. Tickets are $300.
For more information, visit www.sarasotafilmfestival.com.
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