Stanley Tucci said he reads the comments on his viral food and drink tutorials, and he's 'flattered' by some of them

• Stanley Tucci has become a social media phenomenon through his cooking and cocktail tutorials.
• During a New Yorker Festival interview, he said he's "kind of thrilled" about it.
• Tucci mentioned that he reads some of the comments people leave on his posts.

While Stanley Tucci is an accomplished actor, he's also become a social media star during the pandemic. And if you've ever left a comment on one of his posts, there's a chance that he actually read it.

During the early months of lockdown, the "Julie and Julia" actor showed his Instagram followers how to make a Negroni. Then, he followed it up with other cocktail tutorials and even some snippets of himself cooking.

Several of his videos have since gone viral, and, when asked about becoming a social media phenomenon by Insider during a conversation between The New Yorker's Helen Rosner and the actor, Tucci said he's thrilled about it.

"I mean, it's great," he said during the interview, which was part of the magazine's New Yorker Festival. "It's not what I expected, and I was never a social media person, but now, I guess I am."

"The Devil Wears Prada" actor says he sometimes reads what viewers write on his posts and he's "very flattered by the comments that people put out there."

Those comments he referenced have been known to get heated, with sexual references and fans thirsting over the 60-year-old man. Things took an especially graphic turn on Twitter after his cooking and travel show, "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy," aired on CNN in February.

One user tweeted in February, "Stanley Tucci talking about fried pizza dough is my sexual preference," while another said, "Watching Stanley Tucci eat fresh Mozzarella and pizza and coffee in Naples is total bonertown thank you @CNN I needed this *trip*."

"For a man my age, it's not so bad," he told The New Yorker's audience on Tuesday.

A post shared by Stanley Tucci (@stanleytucci)

The mixology hobby that bolstered his Instagram fame became so popular that it landed him a partnership deal with Tanqueray gin in June, and he worked with the brand to create a grapefruit martini.

During an appearance on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" in March, Tucci said that the first tutorial came about after his wife, Felicity Blunt, asked him to record a video to "cheer people up" at Curtis Brown, the company where she works as a literary agent in London. Then, he ended up sharing it on his Instagram page.

Tucci does have some professional experience to back up his mixology stardom, though. He told hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest that he actually worked as a bartender when he was 19 years old.

Professional bartending experience or not, Tucci's fans agree that whatever he's making, he looks great doing it.