Stanley Tucci's mom "still worries" that he could suddenly stop getting acting work.
The six-time Emmy award winner took time off last year to spend time with his children, twins Isabel and Nicolo, 26, and daughter Camilla, 24, whom Stanley had with his late wife, Kate Tucci, and Matteo, 10, and Emilia, seven, with his spouse, actress Felicity Blunt, triggered concerns for Joan.
During a live recording of Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast at 92NY in New York City, The Devil Wears Prada 2 star Stanley shared that his mom and dad, Stanley Tucci Sr., were "very supportive" when he decided to become an actor.
He added, "I thought about being an architect, but my math skills are tragic. So that wasn't gonna happen. I said, 'This is what I want to do,' And they were incredibly supportive. But I know my mother still worries.
"We talk once or twice a week, and she asked, 'So how are you?' I said, 'Good.' Then she goes, 'So what are you doing?'
"I told her, 'I’m spending time with the kids, taking meetings, doing some charity stuff.' And then there was this pause. I realised, 'Oh, she thinks I’m never going to work again.'
"I understand it."
Like Joan, Stanley - whose breakout role was the 1985 comedy-crime film, Prizzi's Honor - never stops panicking over the uncertainty of showbiz.
The Conclave cast member said: "You never do. A career in show business ebbs and flows. And there was a lot of ebbing for a while.
"After the first Devil Wears Prada, I couldn’t really get a job. Which I know sounds weird, but it’s true."
Stanley - who bagged himself a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his role as George Harvey in the 2009 fantasy-thriller movie, The Lovely Bones - received jobs, but he was not interested in them.
He clarified: "No, I could get a job, but it wasn't a job that was - they were less than lateral moves ... I mean, I had a family, you know, I had a mortgage.
"My late wife was ill, and I needed to find something that, you know, was satisfying, but also that would bring me money to be able to [live]."
The rejected offers include many cooking shows - despite Stanley having fronted his National Geographic travel and food series, Tucci in Italy.
He explained: "I don't like competition when it comes to art or food. I think it's silly. I know they're hugely successful, but I just find it false and weird.
"To me, cooking is the opposite of that. It should be a thing that brings people together, not separates them. A thing that allows for communion, not for competition."
