Many Italian American actors have faced two options: play a mafia character or sit home unemployed.

Stanley Tucci, in the mid-1980s, stared down the same set of choices and he opted for the work.

Re played mobster Frank Mossa in Miami Vice, Eddie Biasi in It Could Happen To You, Frank Zioli in Kiss of Death, and gangster Sal in The Public Eye.

But, in an interview with entertainment.ie, he said that he boycotted the stereotypical roles for years and pushed into more creative territory: a high society designer in The Devil Wears Prada, a megalomaniac in The Hunger Games, and even as himself, in the hit TV travel show Searching for Italy.

“Things are finally starting to change because people are speaking up. Now you see somebody is a teacher, and they have an Italian last name which is scripted and they have nothing to do with the mafia. You are finally starting to see that in probably the last 10 years,” Tucci told entertainment.ie.

Meanwhile, the actor is starring in two new Russo Brothers projects: the groundbreaking TV series Citadel, released on April 28; and the upcoming science fiction film, The Electric State. 

Make a pledge and become a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America today.