Stanley Tucci

With his swarthy Italian looks and ever-receding hairline, this formidable character actor was initially stereotyped as a small-screen bad guy, with recurring roles on Miami Vice and Wiseguy offering him lots of exposure but little challenge. Stage-trained and extremely versatile, Tucci spent a decade building up his résumé with myriad villainous turns, before essaying his breakthrough role as a '50s restaurateur in Big Night. A labor of love, Tucci cowrote the film with his cousin, Joseph Tropiano, codirected it with childhood friend Campbell Scott, cast his good friend Tony Shalhoub as his brother, and even gave his real-life sister Christine Tucci a part. The risk paid off with immense critical and modest commercial success, and Tucci was suddenly in demand. Alternating seamlessly between blockbusters and indies, comedies and dramas, the small and the big screen, he turned in a slew of impressive performances. Although he was no longer typecast as Italian or a villain, he never played straight-up heroes, either. He won an Emmy for the TV-movie Winchell, about the sleazy gossip columnist, and a nomination for his portrayal of infamous Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Conspiracy; meanwhile in features he played neurotic (Maid in Manhattan), awkward (Shall We Dance?) and angry (The Terminal) with equal aplomb. Tucci became a gossip target when he left his wife and children for Edie Falco, his costar in the 2002 Broadway revival of the sexually charged Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, but the relationship didn't last.