'I'm now comfortable being myself'

We have a TV room that’s not huge, but it has a sofa, some books and a television.

What have you enjoyed watching recently?

Reacher has been a lot of fun. My wife [literary agent Felicity Blunt] and kids are watching The Celebrity Traitors, but I’m not. I like to watch TV that is made for people my age. I’m fascinated by war documentaries and anything on archaeology. Digging for Britain, Time Team... I love all of those.

In the new movie Masterplan, you play a retired master-thief who enlists two strangers to steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. If you could have any painting hanging in your house, which would it be?

There are so many I’d like to have in my home by so many different artists. I’d probably want a painting by Alberto Giacometti.

How did you decide on your character Roger’s English accent?

I wanted it to be very arch, so it’s a postwar BBC accent – very RP, so much so that it’s almost not real.

Towards the end of the film there’s a scene where you’re running quite fast. Is that really you or was it a stunt double?

I beg your pardon? I have a gym in my house. I work out seven days a week!

Alongside your acting, you have a parallel career in travel and food documentaries. Is it harder to pretend to be someone else or to be yourself?

I’m finding it harder to pretend than I used to. I’ve become used to being myself in front of a camera, and I never felt that way before. One of the reasons you become an actor is because you’re not comfortable with yourself. But as I do this more, I feel much more comfortable just being myself.

You have Italian heritage, grew up in the USA but now live in London and are filming Tucci in Great Britain. What can the Brits teach the Italians about food?

We have lots to learn from Britain, but Britain has learnt from so many other countries. The British are always heralded for their ability to deal with meat almost better than any other country.

Your first wife, Kate, died of breast cancer in 2009 aged 47, and in 2017 you were diagnosed with a tumour at the base of your tongue. What impact have these experiences had?

It changes how you see the world. It makes you more sensitive. It makes you more cynical. Having my late wife go through four years of cancer; having friends who have died of cancer; having had cancer myself – in the end, it makes you a stronger person.

So much of your work, from The Devil Wears Prada to your food documentaries, inspires joy. Is that important when you’ve experienced grief?

Yeah, you have to be able to laugh at stuff, make inappropriate jokes about death, because it keeps you going. Life is incredibly short. I know that from losing my wife. You have to make the best of it.

It’s 30 years since you co-wrote and starred in Big Night – any plans to return to screenwriting?

Independent film has changed with the success of streaming. A lot of the movies I wanted to make were independent films, and I couldn’t get any traction on them. I have a pile of scripts sitting on my desk.

You’ve said you’re not sure how long you can do this career. What else would you like to do?

I want to continue in the food documentary world. I want to direct a play again. I’d like to paint – and spend the winter of my years in a studio.