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Alan Cumming on God, lotion and Macaulay Culkin |
by Josh Tager
Alan Cumming is a busy man. Really busy. Crazy busy.
The award-winning actor -- who's won accolades for his leading role in a Broadway revival of "Cabaret" and as Nightcrawler in "X2: X-Men United" -- is appearing in a slew of indie movies, from "Sweet Land" to "Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical." He writes books and screenplays, directs and produces movies and, just this month, took on host duties for the Sundance Channel's Friday-night cult movie show, "Midnight Snack," with Honey, his co-host and dog.
Beyond his day job, he's a political activist who's heavily involved in the fight for LGBT civil rights. And he's also a perfumer, with his recent launch of Cumming the fragrance.
Cumming recently spoke to PlanetOut about his upcoming role as a smarmy, slutty bar maid on "The L Word"; Macaulay Culkin's acting abilities; movies he likes and abhors; the upcoming product releases for his Cumming line; and the dangerous intersection of gay politics and right-wing interpretations of patriotism and religion.
You seem so incredibly busy. How'd you end up taking on the host duties for "Midnight Snack?"
They just asked me. I interviewed some people for them for the daily show they had at Sundance. Then they asked me to do this.
Do you actually watch the movies shown on "Midnight Snack," or do you just show up and read some preprepared lines introducing each one?
Yeah, I watch them. [Laughs.] I don't watch them while the audience is watching them. I've already done them all.
The movies chosen for this round of "Midnight Snack" are eclectic, from "Die, Mommie, Die!" and "Party Monster" to "Ichi the Killer." Did you choose these movies, or did they?They chose the movies. There are a few I definitely would not have chosen, I have to say.
Really? Which ones?
Well, "Ichi the Killer," for example.
How come?
I think it's too violent. It goes too far. The director says that in Japan this is kind of a useful thing. I'm like, "Well, yeah, just show it to Japanese people then, and don't include the rest of us." It goes to a place that's not very acceptable to me, anyway.
And "Party Monster." I didn't think that was a very good film, so I wouldn't have chosen that one. It was poorly executed.
What was it about "Party Monster"?
I thought Seth Green was really good, and so was Wilson Cruz. But I didn't think Macaulay Culkin was good enough. I do have my dog with me on the show, and she does two paws up or two paws down. It's quite good of her. If there's something I really don't like, I just get her to give it two paws down, so I don't have to be very, very rude.
I try to be as supportive as possible. But I'm a big grownup, and I don't like everything, and I don't expect everyone else to like everything. It's kind of hard to give your opinion and be yourself and at the same time remember that you're also on TV and hoping people will watch the film.
Do you like any of the films on "Midnight Snack"? I really love "Die, Mommie, Die!" I thought that was so clever. That's my favorite one from it. And there's a documentary called "Dirty Work" about a man who makes rocks for people when they die, and a man who pumps septic tanks. That was hilarious.
Have you worked with your dog Honey before?
Oh, yes. She went to a screening of a movie I did and produced called "Sweet Land," and she was in that too. She's been on talk shows and in a few movies. She's not done presenting before now. This is a first. She was asleep for a lot of it, but she comes off better in this than I do, for sure.
You've also just joined the cast of "The L Word." What's the story there?
My character takes over managing The Planet, the club on the show, and is a party promoter who has all these fabulous evenings and dresses up like a New Yorky downtowny type. He also just fucks a lot of people. He goes in and juices up the bar and also causes havoc with what's in his pants.
What's in his pants?
Well, his penis, of course. He's a little randy thing and he shags everything that moves, including the lesbians.
Oh, of course. Well, then, who are his "L Word" friends?
I'm still in the middle of it. I've only shot one episode, actually. I deal a lot with Pam Grier, because she owns the bar I manage. Also Jennifer Beals. All of the girls have been around.
Jennifer Beals is lovely, and I know her from "The Anniversary Party," which is really nice.
Rumor has it that there's going to be an FTM storyline coming up on the show.
Yeah, I think there definitely will be.
Will this storyline include your character?
Yeah, I think so. I think I do come into contact with that character, but I'm not entirely sure. I haven't seen the scripts yet.
Acting aside, you've also got your fragrance line, Cumming. How's that going?
It's going good. People seem to be enjoying it.
You're expanding the line, right?
Yeah, in July we've got the soap and candle coming out.
The launch was limited. Are you going to expand the distribution?
We're in Sephora, which is big. Not every store, but maybe 20 stores. And Fred Segal in Santa Monica. And a lot of gay stores are carrying it. And also you can get it on our Web site.
You say it's beyond gender. How so?
That's because we thought it was a male thing at first, but a lot of girls said, "Ooh, I'd wear that." And we thought, "Ooh, potential customers." So we call it beyond gender.
The whole has got sort of an underlying joke. I mean, it's not a joke, because we're very serious about it, and I love the smell of it. But the whole marketing and the way we set it up, and the whole ad campaign, have always been with a tongue wedged firmly in our cheek. So saying "beyond gender" is something funny as well.
You've given some of the money from Cumming to AmFar, right?
That's right. For the launch we sold the ad campaign's photographs for AmFar.
Do politics and activism figure centrally in your life?
Yes, very much.
How so? The thing that frightens me most about this country is the way this government and the religious right are so connected. I think it's really important to stand up and be happy for what we've got. But it's really a bad time to be gay in America right now.
I'm supporting organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD and the Empire State Pride Agenda here in New York. Trying to always remind people that it's insane that we don't have the same rights because of our sexual preference.
What's your take on the state of America?
This is a really dangerous time. We've got people in the government -- the people in power -- who believe in the rapture, who believe that in a couple years time they'll be lifted out of their clothes and sitting at the right of God, watching all of us get warts and boils. That's also why they don't believe in an environmental policy, because who cares? The world's going to end soon. It's really crazy.
I was horrified when I presented an award to Janet Jackson at the Human Rights Campaign awards by how much God was mentioned during the evening. So many people refer to God in relation to the gay movement and the gay struggle. I respect people who have God, and I think that's great. But obviously, I can see what's happening is that people are thinking that in order to appease the religious right they need to bring God into gay issues more. I just think that this should stand up on its own, and religion should be kept out of civil rights.
This is the land of diversity and of different cultures, supposedly, yet there really only is one God, and he's a Christian God, and he's a white man, and I think that's a lot of the problem.
What was Janet Jackson like? She's great.
Other projects coming up? Yeah, I'm doing a film now with Heather Graham called "Gray Matters." And I've got a film called "Neverwas" that's really beautiful that's going to be at the Toronto Film Festival. And then I star again with Honey in a film called "Sweet Land." I play a 1920s Minnesotan farmer.
Who does Honey play?
Honey plays my dog.
She doesn't get a character name?
No, she plays Dog at Harvest. I'm also going to do "The Threepenny Opera" on Broadway starting next February with Edie Falco and Nellie McKay. And I'm returning to the West End in London, too.
You've got a freakishly busy schedule.
I tell you, it's a nightmare. A nightmare! Luckily I have a twin.
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