‘House of Gucci’ Director Ridley Scott Slams the ‘Insulting’ Gucci Family’s Al Pacino Controversy – ‘You Should Be so F*cking Lucky’
House of Gucci is one of the most talked-about movies currently in theaters. However, its awards buzz isn’t the only reason why the film is on everyone’s lips. The Italian accents in House of Gucci drew criticism and the Gucci family themselves have spoken out against the movie’s portrayals. Director Ridley Scott recently fired back at the family’s statements in a huge way.
The Gucci family slams ‘House of Gucci’
The heirs of Aldo Gucci, who Al Pacino plays in House of Gucci, criticized the movie, as shared by Vanity Fair. The production didn’t consult with them before making the movie. The statement alleges that it sees the family through the lens of being “thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.” They wrote that House of Gucci is, “extremely painful from a human point of view and an insult to the legacy on which the brand is built today.”
Further, Total Film shared how Patricia Gucci, the only daughter of Aldo, didn’t appreciate Pacino’s portrayal. She called it, “shameful because he doesn’t resemble him at all.” She called Pacino’s version of the character, “fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly.”
Ridley Scott fires back at the Gucci family
Scott talked about House of Gucci in an interview with Total Film. One of the major topics included the Gucci family’s criticisms. He responded with strong feelings regarding the ongoing disapproval from them. Scott said that he was trying to be “as respectful as possible by being as factual as possible.”
“The people that were writing from the family to us at the onset were alarmingly insulting, saying that Al Pacino did not represent physically Aldo Gucci in any shape or form,” Scott said. “And yet, frankly, how could they be better represented than by Al Pacino? Excuse me! You probably have the best actors in the world, you should be so f*cking lucky.”
Ridley Scott defends Jared Leto’s performance
Lady Gaga has grabbed most of House of Gucci‘s Oscar buzz as Patrizia Reggiani. Meanwhile, many audiences and critics have attacked Jared Leto’s performance as Paolo Gucci for coming across as an Italian caricature. Leto’s scenes appear more comedic in nature than trying to capture the essence of a real person. However, Scott has differing thoughts on the matter.
“I think a lot of it is comedic,” Scott said to Total Film. “Certainly for the first two acts. Jared Leto, there’s not a lot of information about [his character] Paolo, but there are pictures of Paolo and that’s exactly what Paolo looks like. We found the pictures and Jared did what he did and dressed the way Paolo dressed.”
Scott continued: “There’s not a lot of Paolo on camera talking. And so that had to be, to a certain extent, imagined, but clearly Paolo was a very colorful and flamboyant man. The flamboyance of Paolo was quite nicely captured,” he adds. “And how could that be offensive? We paid attention to not getting too overt if we can avoid it.”
