Stanley Tucci 'tried to get out of' playing Lovely Bones serial killer

Over the years, Stanley Tucci has starred as an art director in The Devil Wears Prada, the scientist who helped transform Steve Rogers into a superhero in Captain America: the First Avenger, and witty Panem broadcaster Caesar Flickerman in the Hunger Games films, but there is one role that he's not interested in reprising anytime soon.

The actor revealed in a recent Entertainment Tonight interview that he wouldn't play his serial killer character in the 2009 film The Lovely Bones again. In fact, he admitted that he actively tried to get out of the role before filming began because of how sinister it was.

"I would not play George Harvey again in The Lovely Bones, that was horrible," he told the outlet. "It's a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience simply because of the role."

The film, which is based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel of the same name, saw Tucci play a cold-blooded serial killer who raped and murdered at least seven girls, including its 14-year-old main protagonist Susie Salmon (Saorise Ronan). In the end, George plummets off a cliff to his death after attempting to lure in another potential victim.

Tucci explained that he was flummoxed by the decision to cast him in the role and ended up asking the film's director, Peter Jackson, why he felt like he was a good fit for such a dark turn.

"I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job," he remarked. "But I was like, 'Why do you want me?' And he said, 'Because you're funny.' And I thought, 'OK.' But I understand what he was saying."

Everett Collection Stanley Tucci in 'The Lovely Bones'

"I think what he meant was that I wouldn't be too — not that I wouldn't be serious about it, but that I wouldn't be overly dramatic about it," he clarified. "That I would throw it away a bit. Which is what you have to do when you're playing somebody who's that awful, right?"

Tucci added that, for a role like George, it was important that "you can't play into" the darkness of it, adding, "Then, you know, it's over. Like, the movie's over. You just have to play against it."

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