Actor, Director
11/11/1960 (58 years old) Peekskill, New York, United States
With his swarthy Italian looks and ever-receding hairline, this formidable character actor was initially stereotyped as a small-screen bad guy, with recurring roles on Miami Vice and Wiseguy offering Tucci lots of exposure but little challenge. Stage-trained and extremely versatile, Tucci spent a decade building up his résumé with myriad villainous turns, before essaying his breakthrough role as a '50s restaurateur in Big Night. A labor of love, Tucci co-wrote the film with his cousin, Joseph Tropiano, co-directed it with childhood friend Campbell Scott, cast his good friend Tony Shalhoub as his brother, and even gave his real-life sister, Christine Tucci, a part. The risk paid off with immense critical and modest commercial success, and Tucci was suddenly in demand. Alternating seamlessly between blockbusters and indies, comedies and dramas, the small and the big screen, he turned in a slew of impressive performances. Although Tucci was no longer typecast as Italian or a villain, he never played straight-up heroes either. He won an Emmy for the TV-movie Winchell, about a sleazy gossip columnist, and a nomination for his portrayal of infamous Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Conspiracy.Meanwhile in features he played neurotic (Maid in Manhattan), awkward (Shall We Dance?), angry (The Terminal) and jovial (Julie & Julia) with equal aplomb. Tucci became a gossip target when he left his wife, Kate, for Edie Falco, his costar in the 2002 Broadway revival of the sexually charged Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. But the relationship with Falco didn't last, and Tucci reconciled with his wife before her death from cancer in 2009.
Filmography Facts Awards
Transformers: The Last Knight (Digital)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: Sea of Monsters
Transformers: Age of Extinction
The Impostors
A Private War
The Hunger Games (Bonus Features Edition)
Made his Broadway debut with a small role in the 1982 play The Queen and the Rebels.
Went to high school with Campbell Scott, with whom he later co-directed Big Night (1996) and shared the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best New Director.
Frequently works with Tony Shalhoub, whom he met in 1989 while appearing in the play Moon Over Miami; cast Shalhoub in Big Night and The Impostors (1998) and guest-starred on the actor's TV series Monk in 2006.
Robert Altman Award
Margin Call
Big Night
1997 Nominee
Best First Feature
Best Male Lead
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
BAFTA Film Awards
Critics' Choice Movie Awards
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award