Stanley Tucci spoke about his strong belief that actors should not be limited to roles that correspond to their own sexuality in an interview about the good and bad moments of his life and career in show business, reports The Guardian, citing News.ro.

Tucci, known for blockbusters such as The Hunger Games and The Devil Wears Prada, as well as the host of hit TV food and travel show In Search of Italy, says the role of an actor is to “play different people”, adding : “That’s his goal.”

The American actor, who lives in London with his wife, literary agent Felicity Blunt, was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs programme.

Asked by host Lauren Laverne how he reacted when people criticized him for playing a gay man in Supernova, in which he starred alongside friend Colin Firth, he said: “Obviously, I think it’s good. And I’m always very flattered when gay guys come up to me and tell me about my role in The Devil Wears Prada or Supernova and tell me I did everything right. Because a lot of times it’s done wrong, and I really believe as an actor that you have to play different people. Simply”.

Acting, escape

Stanley Tucci, 62, says he sees acting as an escape, a place where he feels better. “I feel much safer on stage than I do in real life,” he says. “Sometimes at a cocktail party or dinner I get really nervous.”

He also talked about the pain he felt when his first wife, Kate Tucci, was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. She died five years later. “I didn’t work for almost a year… It was terrible. In a way, it’s still terrifying. You’ll never get over it,” he said, before describing his guilt at not being able to offer more help in the final days of her illness. “I was afraid it would affect me so much that it would overwhelm me and I I couldn’t go on and take care of the kids, so I had to leave. There were other people there. But you still feel guilty and sad about it.”

His newly diagnosed cancer, from which he was successfully cured, “humanized” him, he says. “I didn’t fully realize my mortality after Kate’s death. Now I understand it.”

Choosing Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” as one of the eight songs he will take with him to his desert island, the actor says it was one of Kate’s favorite songs and was played at her funeral. “She was always an optimist and always looked at things positively. It made you wish you were her,” he says.

He found his happiness when his girlfriend, actress Emily Blunt, introduced him to her sister, whom he married 11 years ago. “I was a bit scared of getting into a relationship and I kept trying to break it off because I’m 21 years older than Felicity. I didn’t want to feel old for the rest of my life, but I knew he was an incredibly special person. If anyone has made us all better, it’s her.”