The Ins and Outs of the Fashion Industry: Stanley Tucci, who plays Miranda’s right-hand man, admits he knew a little bit about the fashion industry before beginning work on The Devil Wears Prada. “I had some friends in the industry and had been to fashion shows and showrooms sometimes,” revealed Tucci. “But not quite as much as I do now, I guess. But I always liked fashion. I like to dress well and go shopping. All that stuff doesn’t bother me.”
Lessons Learned from The Devil Wears Prada: “I learned I definitely don’t want to work in the fashion industry… I learned a lot from Pat Field, the costume designer. I learned a lot from her.”
Tucci used what he learned from Field in order to get into character. “I had no time to research this part. I was cast a few days before we started shooting so I had no time at all. It was really sort of more an instinct, but it was through those costume fittings that I was really able to find the character.”
Hanging Out with Gorgeous Models: Tucci said time on the set was “pretty fun” and different from hanging with just actors. “It is very different worlds. An actor’s world, being an actor so much is about talking and your personality and your variety of personalities. With a model, it’s not that. It’s about image.”
Balancing a Personal Life with Work: The employees of the fictional magazine in the film aren’t allowed to have a personal life. Tucci can relate to that as an actor with more than 20 years in the entertainment industry. “It’s hard,” said Tucci, “but I’ve gotten better at it over the years. I have three little kids. You just don’t ever want to miss their growing up. You just have to be careful not to overwork yourself so that you end up pulling away from them. I think, also, your work is better if you step away from it from time to time.”
Tucci's Had His Fair Share of Bad Bosses...: "I’ve had bad directors who think they’re the boss, but they forget that it’s a collaborative effort." Tucci explained how he handles that particular type of director: "I try to be diplomatic at first and if that doesn’t work, if they’re still rude or whatever they are, myopic or something, then I fight."
Luckily for all involved, The Devil Wears Prada's director, David Frankel, was nothing like Streep's Miranda character. Tucci said that although we sometimes think of directors as loud, Frankel wasn't. "Somebody like David who’s not passive aggressive but who’s just a wonderful director is very quiet. He got exactly what he wanted from all of us."
Something That Might Make the DVD: Tucci said one of his scenes was cut that he hated to lose, and hopefully audiences will get to see it on the DVD. "There was this one really... I love this scene where Anne is getting dressed to go to the big gala and you see her in the mirror and the camera pulls back and I come in. I can’t remember, I bring in something or I just sit down next to her and she says, 'I’m very nervous.' I tell her she looks beautiful or something. A very sweet little scene and they cut that and I was sad about that."
