Stanley Tucci Never Wants To Play A Role Like George Harvey In ‘The Lovely Bones’ Again: “It Was A Tough Experience”

Stanley Tucci has had plenty of memorable roles over the years, including “Big Night,” “Road To Perdition,” “Spotlight,” and “The Hunger Games” franchise, among others. But there’s one role the actor hopes never to play again and almost tried to get out of playing it entirely.

READ MORE: ‘The Electric States’: Michelle Yeoh, Stanley Tucci, Jenny Slate & More Joins The Russos’ Next Netflix Film

Deadline reports (via Entertainment Tonight) that Tucci never wants to reprise his role as a serial killer in 2009’s “The Lovely Bones.” “I would not play George Harvey again in “The Lovely Bones,” which was horrible,” Tucci told ET. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.”  Peter Jackson‘s film adapts Alice Sebold‘s novel of the same name, about a girl murdered by a serial killer who helps her father solve the crime from beyond the grave.

“I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job,” Tucci went on. “But I was like, ‘Why do you want me?’ And [Jackson] said, ‘Because you’re funny.’ And I thought, ‘OK.’ But I understand what he was saying.” Tucci continued, “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. 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?”

Despite playing such an unsavory character, Tucci did receive his first Oscar nomination for his performance as Harvey. Still, the actor would rather not think about the role again, preferring other former parts to reprise instead perhaps. “I would happily play Nigel in “The Devil Wears Prada” again. It was a really great experience,” said the actor “I would play Paul Child again, when we did “Julie and Julia.” Those are really wonderful roles to play.”

Up next for Stanley Tucci?  The Russo Brothers‘ Netflix blockbuster “The Electric State” with Millie Bobbie Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Jason Alexander, and more. That film hits the streamer sometime next year.