'I like that bit of elegance in life': Stanley Tucci on quarantine cocktails, 'Supernova' with Colin Firth

It wasn't a stretch for Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth to play a married couple.

The two have been close ever since they co-starred in TV movie "Conspiracy" in 2001: supporting each other through Firth's separation from wife Livia Giuggioli in 2019 and the death of Tucci's first wife, Kate, from breast cancer in 2009. They both live in London and their kids are friends, so they already had a palpable connection when it came time to shoot romantic drama "Supernova" (in theaters Friday, available digitally Feb. 16).

"When you're great friends with someone, and you've been through so much and shared so much, you start to feel like a married couple," Tucci says. As actors, "you're catapulted into these relationships where you must be intimate with people, emotionally or physically. When that's a person you've known for 20 years, it just makes that a little bit easier."

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That lived-in affection was imperative for "Supernova," a quietly heartbreaking story about life partners Tusker (Tucci) and Sam (Firth), who embark on a final road trip. We soon learn that Tusker has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and the couple is faced with tough decisions about how best to care for him while maintaining his quality of life.

"It was interesting to me how dementia changed relationships and love," writer/director Harry Macqueen says. "You go from being an equal party with that person to their carer. That transition was not something I'd seen on screen before."

Tucci, 60, is a dark horse supporting actor Oscar contender for the well-reviewed "Supernova" (88% positive on Rotten Tomatoes). He calls USA TODAY from his home in England, where he's been finding "a sense of sanity" in the kitchen and finishing his new book "Taste: My Life Through Food," out this fall.

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Question: You initially signed on to play Colin's character but wound up switching roles. Whose choice was that?

Stanley Tucci: Colin suggested it and I was thinking the same thing. Every time I read it, I was like, "Something's wrong." Both characters are so complex, but there was something rhythmically about the writing (of Tusker) that seemed more right to me. The way he deflects emotion with humor, and then also his sudden straightforwardness.

Q: How did your own experiences with marriage and grief inform your performance? (Tucci married Felicity Blunt, sister of actress Emily, in 2012, and they share two young children: Matteo, 6, and Emilia, 2.)

Tucci: Those things are just a part of you. You can't help but tap into them, whether you want to or not. Particularly when you reach my age and you've had a lot of friends who passed away, and a wife who's passed away, you're very well aware of grief.

Q: You're hosting a culinary travel show, "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy," on CNN (premiering Feb. 14). Has that been a lifelong dream of yours?

Tucci: I thought about this idea maybe a dozen years ago now: breaking down Italy region to region, focusing on the cuisine and the forces that created that cuisine, whether they're geographical, political, religious, socioeconomic. Italy has been invaded over the last 2,000 years by so many different people that they have influenced the cuisine.

Q: A video of you making a Negroni went viral in lockdown, and you've shared similar how-tos since. How does it feel to be the internet’s go-to cocktail guy?

Tucci: I'm sure there are a lot of bartenders who are just shaking their heads, even though I was trained as a bartender 40 years ago. I love making cocktails. I think it's really fun. It's not a lost art – it's an art that's really coming into its own now, and I think that's great. I like that bit of elegance in life.

Q: When the world opens back up, and you’re finally able to sit back down at a bar: What’s the first drink you order and where?

Tucci: There's a place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan called Cafe Luxembourg. It's really great and it's where I started drinking martinis. I would love to be able to go back there and have a martini.

Q: Lady Gaga's inauguration dress reminded many people of "The Hunger Games" fashion. (Tucci played the eccentric Caesar Flickerman in the young adult film franchise.) Did you have to do a double take?

Tucci: A little bit! I looked at it and I couldn't quite figure out what it was that it was reminding me of. Then (one of my older daughters) said, "Oh, my gosh, like 'The Hunger Games!' " And I was like, "Oh, yeah, that's what it is." On a larger scale, of course.

Q: Speaking of your other films, "The Devil Wears Prada" turns 15 this year. What do fans ask or quote back to you most from that?

Tucci: People love "Gird your loins," of course. And they just ask what it was like and was it fun. Of course, it was fun – it was a great group of people. (Meryl Streep's iconic cerulean blue scene, in particular) was beautifully written. And her delivery of it? Nobody could do that except her.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Tucci on 'Supernova,' Gaga's 'Hunger Games' inauguration look