Homeless hero

>> Stanley Tucci tells the true story of Joe Gould's Secret

by MATTHEW HAYS

Confounding my expectations, Stanley Tucci does feel there are connections between the three films he's directed and starred in. "Oh no, they are connected," he says, from his New York home. "All three are about the creative act, how you do it, why you do it and why you can't always do it." Tucci apologizes as the sound of a toilet flushing comes over the phone. "Sorry, I'm in the bathroom. Anyway, the films are about what an artist's place is in society."

Tucci's right, all three of his films do involve the creative act. But otherwise, they've been pretty distinctive projects. The first, Big Night ('96), recounted the story of two restaurateur brothers, struggling to make their business work. His second was an endearing ode to the era of silent and slapstick filmmaking, 1998's The Impostors. Though the film was an hilarious, no-holds-barred comedy, it didn't match Big Night in terms of box-office popularity. ("They didn't support the film," Tucci complains now about the studio that handled the release, "they didn't open it on enough screens.")

Now Tucci is plugging his latest, Joe Gould's Secret. Again, it's about the creative process, but perhaps more important is that Tucci has again focused on an outsider, someone who would never be thought of by the studios as feature-worthy. The tale is based on the true story of Joseph Mitchell, a writer for The New Yorker who came across Joe Gould in the '40s, a man who lived on the streets but who was Harvard-educated and extremely bright. Mitchell decided to profile Gould, who proceeded to become a minor celebrity among Manhattan's cultural élite because of the New Yorker article. The film then recounts the strains that grew between the two men, and Mitchell's eventual revelation that, in fact, the book Gould had boasted of writing didn't exist.

For Tucci, there was little question as to who would fill the role of Gould. The director had already worked with Ian Holm on Big Night and knew he could flesh out this eccentric character. "Ian isn't really big on rehearsals. But we talked on the phone about the character and he found some pictures of the man. He tried to fill the role physically and it's quite amazing how much he looks like Gould, when you see actual photos of him."

Tucci, who plays Mitchell, spoke with Mitchell's daughters and girlfriend about his habits, to try and better capture the man. Mitchell died a few years ago, but Tucci says he might not have wanted to see the film version of this story anyway. "He could well have been embarrassed by it," Tucci says. "He wasn't mean, but he didn't even want his work from that time to be republished. So who knows if he would have wanted it adapted to film. I agree with him, to an extent. In some cases, things should just be what they are. Not everything should be a movie."

Joe Gould's Secret opens Friday, May 12