Stanley Tucci is 21 years older than his wife. He tried to break up with her because of it.

Age-gap relationships aren't uncommon in Hollywood, but for Stanley Tucci, the idea of being in one almost stopped him from finding love again after the heartbreaking loss of his first wife.

Tucci, 62, has been happily married to Felicity Blunt since 2012, but he admits he tried to sabotage the relationship in its early days over concerns about their 21-year age gap.

The Citadel star appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs podcast, revealing, "I was afraid to get into a relationship and I kept trying to break it off because I am 21 years older than she is and I didn’t want to feel old for the rest of my life. But I knew this was an incredibly special person."

Blunt is an English literary agent and the older sister of actress Emily, who Tucci starred with in The Devil Wears Prada. Felicity Blunt and Tucci actually met at the film's premiere in 2006, but they didn't cross paths again until 2010 when they were guests at Emily's Lake Como wedding to actor John Krasinksi.

At the time, Tucci was still grieving the death of his first wife, Kate Spath-Tucci, from breast cancer. The pair had been happily married until she passed in 2009, and had raised twins Nicolo and Isabel, 23, and daughter Camilla, 21, together. Tucci still harboured guilt over Kate's death and felt "helpless" because he couldn't help her beat her illness, but eventually, he was able to see a way through those dark feelings to a brighter future with Blunt.

“Felicity has been so incredible taking on a widower and three children whose mother died," Tucci revealed. "That’s a huge thing, at a very young age too. If anybody made things better for all of us, it’s her. She’s the one.”

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Blunt has also been there for Tucci through his own tough health battles. In 2021, the actor revealed that he had secretly treated oral cancer three years earlier, after doctors found a tumour on his tongue. High-dose radiation and extensive chemotherapy were used to treat it, and he had to endure a feeding tube for six months.

“[Cancer] makes you more afraid and less afraid at the same time. I feel much older than I did before I was sick. But you still want to get ahead and get things done,” he told Vera magazine.

Tucci later credited his wife's "undying attention, affection and encouragement" for helping him beat the illness. He also praised Blunt and sister Emily for being "insistent" that he undergo the "brutal" treatment, which he feared after watching his first wife suffer through similar procedures.

"They had to drag me, kicking and screaming, but now, I wouldn't be around if I hadn't done that [treatment]," he admitted.

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"He's an all-around Renaissance man who knows the way to everyone's hearts," the Oppenheimer star told People. "He's frighteningly bright, quick to laugh, loves to be laughed at, charismatic, warm and energetic."

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