Ridley Scott says Gucci family criticism is 'alarmingly insulting': 'How could they be better represented than by Al Pacino?'
- Ridley Scott hit back at criticism from the Gucci family.
- The Gucci family has continually criticized Scott's new movie "House of Gucci."
Sir Ridley Scott has said the criticism he's received from members of the Gucci family has been "alarmingly insulting," and the fashion family should feel "lucky" to have been portrayed in his new film "House of Gucci."
Scott's biopic "House of Gucci" — which tells the story of the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver, which was ordered by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani, played by Lady Gaga — has been continually slammed by the surviving members of the Gucci family who have questioned the film's depiction of their family history.
Earlier this year, Patrizia Gucci, the daughter of Aldo Gucci who was president of the fashion house for 30 years, accused Ridley Scott of "stealing the identity of a family to make a profit."
In response, during a lengthy Q&A with Total Film, Scott dismissed the claims made by members of the Gucci family.
"I tried to be as respectful as possible by being as factual as possible, and as factual as we can possibly imagine. Time and space sometimes has to jump because of the nature of the length of the film," Scott said of his work on the biopic.
"But 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. 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 fucking lucky."
Patrizia Gucci previously criticized Al Pacino's casting as Aldo Gucci. In an interview with the Associated Press, she said: "My grandfather was a very handsome man, like all the Guccis, and very tall, blue eyes and very elegant. He is being played by Al Pacino, who is not very tall already, and this photo shows him as fat, short, with sideburns, really ugly. Shameful, because he doesn't resemble him at all."
Ridley Scott continued to defend Jared Leto's performance as Paolo Gucci in the film. Leto's eccentric performance has met acute criticism from the Gucci family as well as other members of the Gucci story who knew Paolo Gucci. In a review of "House of Gucci," Tom Ford, who was the creative director of Gucci in the 1990s, compared Leto's performance to a "Saturday Night Live" sketch.
"Paolo, whom I met on several occasions, was indeed eccentric and did some wacky things, but his overall demeanor was certainly not like the crazed and seemingly mentally challenged character of Leto's performance," Ford wrote.
In response, Scott told Total Film that the story of the Gucci family lends to satire and comedy, which is what he was aiming to create with his film.
"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. There's not a lot of Paolo on camera talking. And so that had to be, to a certain extent, imagined."
Earlier this week, members of the Gucci family hinted that they could explore legal action over Scott's film, saying that the heirs of the fashion dynasty "reserve the right to take action to protect the name, image, and dignity of themselves and their loved ones."