Oscar-nominated star Stanley Tucci said he took acting jobs he “didn’t necessarily want to do” because he struggled to land a role after his starring turn in The Devil Wears Prada.

The 2006 David Frankel film saw Meryl Streep play Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine, with Tucci starring as her creative director Nigel.

It also saw British star Emily Blunt play Streep’s long-term assistant Emily Charlton and Anne Hathaway as new assistant Andrea Sachs.

Venice Film Festival
Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Anne Hathaway during the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada (Ian West/PA)

“After The Devil Wears Prada, I couldn’t get a job, and I didn’t quite understand that, but that’s just the way it was,” Tucci told Vanity Fair magazine.

“So I went and did stuff that I didn’t necessarily want to do, but I did it.”

The 63-year-old confirmed he would be willing to star in a much-anticipated sequel, which is yet to be announced.

“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,” he said.

Tucci said his career has always gone through “fluctuations” for both business and personal reasons, including being diagnosed with oral cancer in 2017.

BFI London Film Festival
Stanley Tucci was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 (Ian West/PA)

“Having been sick six years ago, that threw a wrench into the works for a while, and then you slowly get back,” he said.

“But I had to start doing things. 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.”

After The Devil Wears Prada in 2006, Tucci again starred alongside Streep in 2009’s Julie & Julia, before appearing alongside Irish actress Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely Bones later that year – which won him an Academy Award nomination.

He also starred in Burlesque with Cher and Christina Aguilera in 2010, as well as Easy A with Emma Stone and The Hunger Games franchise which began in 2012 starring Jennifer Lawrence.