Role of killer new territory for Stanley Tucci

New Zealand director Peter Jackson found his place on the Hollywood A-List after having phenomenal hits with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and his remake of "King Kong."

Those films took in close to $3.5 billion at the box office, yet Jackson initially made his name with grisly little horror films including "Bad Taste" and "Braindead."

When it came time for the recently knighted Jackson to adapt the best-selling 2002 novel "The Lovely Bones" for the screen, he was reluctant to return to his old ways, even though the plot is triggered by the gruesome murder and rape of a 14-year-old girl.

"The Lovely Bones" opened Friday.

Fans of the book know that the story goes on to become one of hope and fulfillment of dreams, and even manages to end on an upbeat note, but Jackson, along with his co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, knew that they had to deal with presenting that horrific sequence if the film was going to work. On top of that, Jackson was determined to get a PG-13 rating.

"We wanted to make a film that teenagers could watch," he said.

The first adjustment he made was to remove any mention of rape. Next, the decision was made not to show the actual murder of young Susie Salmon by serial killer Mr. Harvey in the tight confines of a cramped underground room she's lured into.

Jackson left the lion's share of the work up to newcomer Saoirse Ronan and veteran actor Stanley Tucci ("Julie & Julia," "The Devil Wears Prada"). Shot in extreme close-up, they are the only characters in the scene, and the result is unnerving. Oddly, it was Tucci who had the harder time playing the role.

"I was very reticent to take the part at first," he said. "I have kids, and I can't really read anything or watch anything about kids getting harmed, but this was a beautiful story about an exploration of loss."

Tucci worked on creating the character with Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens well before filming started.

"We had long conversations, and I felt very safe with them," he said. "I felt there would be nothing here that would be gratuitous. The more real he is, and the more subtle he is, the more terrifying he is.

"There were some things in the script originally that were a little more graphic," he added, "but in our conversations, I said that we really didn't need to see this. And Peter said, 'No, we don't.' It's so much more interesting to leave it to the audience's imagination."

Ronan, who was 14 when the film was made, didn't read the book until shooting wrapped. But the script left nothing to her imagination.

"We didn't talk about that scene much beforehand," she said, in her thick Irish accent. "It was a few months into shooting before we did it. Both Stanley and I were quite anxious to get it out of the way, so we just went in on the day. Everything that I needed was already written for me, and Pete was there so I felt very, very safe. Luckily, Stanley and I are very comfortable with each other. I think that was essential in order to get that intensity onscreen. We could bounce off each other and sort of freak each other out, in a way."

Tucci admitted that after every take, he would turn to Ronan, and ask her if she was OK.

"And then she would also ask me if I was OK," he said, smiling. "It turns out that she's the one who, in some ways, made us all feel comfortable, because she was so mature."

"I know I wouldn't have been able to stay in that place for the whole time because when the cameras started to roll, it was extremely intense," said Ronan. "Stanley is such a great guy, and to see how he changes is frightening. It certainly feeds whatever performance I needed to get out."

Tucci had to deal with playing the despicable character all the way through. It was difficult for him to leave Mr. Harvey behind when shooting stopped.

"But once you understand who he is and you find him, at least for me, then I could drop him at the end of the day," he said, "but there's no question it was the most difficult thing I've ever done as an actor. I looked forward to going into the makeup trailer, taking everything off and having a martini at the end of every day."