Stanley Tucci is getting candid about the career difficulties he faced following The Devil Wears Prada.
The actor, who played Nigel in the 2006 movie starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt, recently told Vanity Fair that he struggled to book another job following the film, which saw success at the box office and earned two Oscars.
“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,” Tucci said. “So I went and did stuff that I didn’t necessarily want to do, but I did it.”
While the Conclave actor didn’t specify which past projects he didn’t want to do, he added that his acting career has “always gone through these fluctuations, and sometimes it’s just the business. Sometimes it was personal reasons why you can’t work.”
“Having been sick six years ago, that threw a wrench into the works for a while, and then you slowly get back,” Tucci explained. “But I had to start doing things. I needed to work because I needed money. I probably started working too soon. I didn’t really have the energy to do it after the treatments, but you had to do it, and eventually you climb back up again.”
In addition to the David Frankel-directed film, Tucci has starred in dozens of projects throughout his career, including The Lovely Bones, which earned him a best supporting actor Oscar nomination, Julie & Julia, Spotlight, Patient Zero and The Hunger Games franchise.
A Devil Wears Prada sequel is also in the works at Disney from original screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, however, Tucci has yet to confirm if he’ll reprise his role in the film.
