When the Russo Brothers were tasked with creating a collaborative show that would utilize creative talent from all over the world, Prime Video’s new spy series, Citadel, was their brainchild. Not only did the team behind this show set out to do something wholly unique, they wanted it to be as entertaining as possible, with cinematic scale and action, and an ensemble cast, including Academy Award-nominee, Stanley Tucci. While promoting the series premiere, Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with Tucci about being a part of “something that’s never been done before.”

Citadel is an ambitious series about a global intelligence agency that works to protect the world’s security. Because the writers’ room worked with both Italy and India’s teams with their Citadel installments, Tucci says the material was in “constant flux,” and that the episodes will keep viewers on their toes with all of its twists and turns. In the series, Tucci plays Bernard Orlick, the supplier of state-of-the-art technology for stars Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. In fact, it’s Tucci’s character who enlists the help of Madden’s Mason Kane to rejoin the fight against the nefarious and powerful Manticore.

Of the process behind the scenes, Tucci tells Weintraub it was “complicated” the way details changed while filming in order to keep the interconnected series in sync, but that the final product is amazing. During their interview, which you can watch in the video above or read below, the actor also discusses the “staggering” action set pieces his co-stars kick off the series with, and says he believes this new worldwide franchise is “going to introduce people to so many different actors, so many different directors all over the world.” Weintraub also asks about his other Russo Brothers’ team-up on The Electric State, his favorite food to cook, and more.

COLLIDER: I am a big fan of your work. Before we jump into Citadel, you clearly know how to cook, and with what you post on Instagram, people now know you know how to cook. How many people are asking you to come over and cook for them?

STANLEY TUCCI: [Laughs] Certain people will do like– what was it recently somebody said? “We'd love to have Mr. Tucci come over, we'll fly him over and he can just cook for–” I was like, “Why would I do that? I don’t wanna do that.” You know what I mean? Just because I know how… I don't necessarily want– I want to cook for the people that I know and love. Do you know what I mean?

Like me?

TUCCI: Like you. Or if it's a charity thing, or something like that, of course. I always want to go into kitchens and cook with people because I want to learn. Because I know how to cook certain things, but I'm not a chef, hardly a chef. I like to go and sort of insinuate myself into a kitchen and cook with somebody and have them teach me.

Yeah, I enjoyed watching your show. What is your favorite dish to cook?

TUCCI: Well, there's a lot of them. Obviously, I love pasta, so I love cooking any kind of pasta. But I think making a really simple pasta, like fresh tomato with onions, garlic, basil, olive oil, and then you just toss that up with fresh pasta ideally, or just spaghetti, or whatever. That's, to me, one of the greatest dishes you can ever have. You don't need anything else. And then of course, from there you can just augment that. You can put pancetta in it, you can put shrimp in it, you can put beans in it, you can put whatever you want in it.

And you wonder why people ask you to cook for them! I'm like, “How can I get him to cook for me?”

TUCCI: And it's so much easier than you think, a lot of that stuff. I cook the same things all the time because they're comforting.

I'm really looking forward to The Electric State, another Russo Brothers’ project. What can you tease about who you play and being a part of that?

TUCCI: Well, obviously it's based on the graphic novel. I don't know that it follows it exactly, but for the most part that is the story. What can I say about it? I don't really know. I don't really know what I can say, do you know what I mean? I want to be careful.

I'll move on so you don't get in trouble, but I'm really looking forward to it. It's a huge project.

TUCCI: Yeah, it's huge, it's huge.

So, with Citadel, it's six episodes. Which of the six are you most looking forward to people seeing?

TUCCI: That's hard to say because what I saw was a rough cut of six episodes. So I haven't seen, really, the final version of it. I like them all, and I'm not saying that because I'm a part of it. I like them all. I think they're amazing. And it's so surprising, in one episode you think this is gonna happen, the next thing that happens, that happens. It's so complex that I'd say all of them.

I've seen the first three, and it has more twists and turns than I think anyone is expecting, so I'm assuming it continues with four, five, and six. How much did they tell you when you signed on, “Here's what we're gonna do, here are the twists and turns,” and how much is it like, “We're making a big spy show, do you want to be part of it?”

TUCCI: I read all the episodes. I was given all the episodes, I read all the episodes, but you have to remember, as we're filming things are changing, right? So you have to keep sort of saying, “So if that happens, then what about the thing that happened before? And how do we…?” And then you have to sort of rectify that, or change that, or, “Actually, no, it works because this is gonna happen, then blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” So there's all that. So it's in constant flux. And you're just getting the information and prepping yourself for, “Okay, when we do this scene, I know that I've done this,” but it's quite complicated.

One of the things about the show that I'm really excited about is that there's going to be an Italian version and one in India, and it's a really huge global thing. Can you sort of talk about that aspect? I think it’s really cool.

TUCCI: I think it's really cool too. As far as I know, this has never been done before and I think it's amazing. I think what it's gonna do is, hopefully, there'll be all this sort of cross-pollination of actors and directors, and who knows, storylines, and all that. But I think what it's going to do is, it's going to introduce people to so many different actors, so many different directors all over the world. I think that's a really wonderful thing.

I'm actually most looking forward to the one from India, and I think that the success of RRR has maybe opened the door a little bit because Indian cinema in Bollywood has been going for so long, and I think it's such a small audience in America.

TUCCI: Yeah, it is. It is. And I think this is going to really open the doors, and the same with the Italian, too. It's great.

Can I ask, did you film any sort of appearances or cameos in those others?

TUCCI: I can't answer that question.

Sure, I have to keep digging. One of the things with the first episode, it really has a movie-style action set piece on a television series. Were you excited that you were not part of it, or did you want to be a part of it? Because filming that is a challenge.

TUCCI: Yeah, I mean, those guys are significantly– Richard's 20, almost 30 years younger than I am. So, it's a little easier for him to do it than for me. I do like to do the physical stuff, but maybe not on that scale. We'll see. But I thought it was incredibly impressive, it’s staggering.

No, it is a movie set piece.

TUCCI: I don't know how they do it.

Time and money.

TUCCI: Well, there you go.

I really enjoy Central Park and your voice as Bitsy. How did you get involved in that, and how much fun did you have doing?

TUCCI: Oh my God, it was so much fun. Josh Gad said, “Hey, will you do this thing I'm doing?” This is years ago now, it was like four years ago or more. He said, “I'm gonna do this thing where you play this 80-year-old woman,” and I was like, “Sure.” And then we played around with the voice for a bit and it happened. You know, the voice came pretty quickly, and then we just started doing it, and then it became really successful. They're not making it anymore, though, and I'm just sad about it.

There are a lot of episodes out there, but you're really great at that. I hope you do some voicemails as that character.

TUCCI: Oh yeah, I absolutely loved it.

The first two episodes of Citadel premiere on Prime Video on April 28, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly. Check out Collider's interview with Tucci's costars, Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, below.