Stanley Tucci

Having had his start on the Broadway stage, award-winning actor Stanley Tucci managed to break free of being cast as stereotypical tough guys by displaying his talents in a wide array of performances. After playing a soldier in the Broadway play "The Queen and the Rebels" (1982), Tucci made his feature debut as a hood in John Huston's "Prizzi's Honor" (1985) and soon developed into a highly respected character actor in films like "Billy Bathgate" (1991), "The Pelican Brief" (1993) and the HBO biopic "Winchell" (1998). Alternating between independent films and big budget features, Tucci came within reach of stardom with his delightful performance as proud Italian chef Secondo Pilaggi in "Big Night" (1996), directed by Campbell Scott from a script by Tucci. He went on to portray a wide range of characters on television and in film, playing Puck in "William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1999) and directing the indie "Joe Gould's Secret" (2001). He played Adolph Eichmann in "Conspiracy" (HBO, 2001), mobster Frank Nitti in "The Road to Perdition" (2002), and Stanley Kubrick in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (HBO, 2004). After stealing scenes from Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" (2006) and "Julie & Julia" (2009), he earned his first Oscar nomination for playing serial killer George Harvey in "The Lovely Bones" (2009). With turns in such varied movies as "Easy A" (2010), "Burlesque" (2010), "Spotlight" (2015) and "Beauty and the Beast" (2017)-as well as a key supporting role as Caesar Flickerman in the blockbuster "The Hunger Games" trilogy-it was easy to see why Tucci was considered one of cinema's finest character actors.