Stanley Tucci “Couldn’t Get A Job” After The Devil Wears Prada

Stanley Tucci’s portrayal of Nigel Kipling remains a favorite of The Devil Wears Prada fans. However, despite its success, the actor struggled to find roles after the 2006 film.

“I couldn’t get a job,” Tucci said in a new interview with Vanity Fair. “I didn’t quite understand that, but that’s just the way it was. So I went and did stuff that I didn’t necessarily want to do, but I did it.”

Tucci plays Runway magazine’s art director, Nigel, in The Devil Wears Prada, starring alongside Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Meryl Streep. Based on Lauren Weisberger’s same-named novel, the movie follows aspiring journalist Andrea Sachs (Hathaway) who lands a job as an assistant to the intimidating Runway editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly (Streep) — a character said to be based on Vogue’s Anna Wintour. The film went on to gross more than $326 million at the global box office and earned Streep her 14th Academy Award nomination.

In his Vanity Fair interview, Tucci said his post-Devil Wears Prada dip wasn’t completely unexpected as his career “has always gone through these fluctuations,” in part due to his health issues in 2017 when he was diagnosed with oral cancer.

“Having been sick six years ago, that threw a wrench into the works for a while, and then you slowly get back,” he continued. “I needed to work because I needed money. I probably started working too soon. I didn’t really have the energy to do it after the treatments, but you had to do it, and eventually, you climb back up again.”

Devil Wears Prada Sequel

Elsewhere in his Vanity Fair interview, Tucci discussed the forthcoming Devil Wears Prada 2, which is reportedly in development.

“I can’t answer that. No one will let me answer that,” he said when asked if he’ll be part of the sequel. “I think they want it to happen, I would imagine. But I cannot really speak to it because it might not happen. I don’t know.”

The actor also recently spoke of a possible follow-up with People, revealing that he’ll “be happy” if it does go ahead. “I haven’t [heard] about the plot or anything. I really haven’t,” he clarified.

Tucci recently reprised his Devil Wears Prada character for a Late Show with Stephen Colbert Show social media skit. In the Instagram video posted on Oct. 21, Tucci, fellow actors Brian Cox and Jason Segel, and host Stephen Colbert spoof a memorable scene from the film in which Priestly’s early arrival to the Runway office strikes fear in her employees’ hearts. Fans loved the new take with Colbert as the intimidating boss; it was, as one viewer proclaimed in the comments, “Too iconic. Too powerful.”