Alan Cumming is an actor who seems to have done it all: won a Tony, played an X-Man, written and directed. The multitalented Cumming recently answered some of Bradford Shellhammer’s questions about The L Word, the Threepenny Opera, and his fragrance line.
We cannot wait to catch you, Cyndi Lauper, and Nellie McKay in the Threepenny Opera. What you can you say about the production?
Right now not very much because I haven’t started rehearsals. But I’m nonetheless very excited. I did a workshop about a year ago so it has been really great to feel that I can actually get through it! Also it’s meant that in the last year ideas, the songs and parts of the character have been floating around in my mind. The biggest revelation about the workshop was discovering that Macheath is a sex addict. Who knew?
Tell us about your fragrance. What made you launch it?
It was really one of these crazy things that tend to happen to me! My friends Jason Schell & Christopher Brosius and I sort of all came up with the idea over a period of time and eventually we had one of these Judy/Mickey moments and said “Let’s make the fragrance right here!” Christopher is a genius and I had worn various fragrances of his for years and Jason had these really fantastic ideas about how to market the fragrance. For me it has been real fun to provoke and subvert the whole notion of celebrity endorsement and at the same time have products that I really enjoy and am proud to add my name to. We now have 5 things–the fragrance, the cleanser [Cumming Clean], the body scrub [Cumming Off Buff], the body lotion [Cumming All Over], and the soap [Cumming in a Bar], all available at Cumming The Fragrance.
It’s such a hilarious thing for me when every time I wash my hands the soap has my name on it. I’m also using it to help charities that I believe in. We’re starting a program whereby each month we’ll give a hefty percentage of our online sales to charity.
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You are on the new season of The L Word. What character do you play?
I play a character called Billie Blaikie who comes into the series to run The Planet and generally spice things up. I had never seen the show before I shot my episodes, but I talked to the producers about the character and thought it sounded fun. The one thing I was adamant about was that I would have sex with a lesbian on the show. I think it’s really good to mix things up a bit and to challenge people’s perceptions about the ways sexuality is pigeonholed. So the idea of a bisexual man having sex with a lesbian was right up my alley. However, the type of sex I ended up having was a little more than I bargained for. It was the most graphic sex scene I have ever done. But I had great fun with all the girls and I got to have a different hairstyle and colour in each episode.
After the jump Alan explains why he wants to be the queer Martha Stewart.
What is the dream role you have yet to play?
Father.
Do you have time to ever read blogs?
I do. I love my friend Michael Lucas’ blog, Lucas Blog. For those of you that don’t know, Michael is a gay porn mogul extraordinaire from Russia who is also hilarious and very opinionated. He also bought a ton of my Cumming products for Xmas so he can’t go wrong in my books. Apart from his I browse other ones occasionally, but I am rather wary of the way that too much blog reading can stop you from actually talking to people or that when you talk to people the only thing you have to discuss is the blogs you’ve read!
We were big fans of The Anniversary Party. Any plans to write or direct in the future?
Funnily enough I am editing a film that I directed at the end of last year. It was written by Tom Gallagher and it stars me [natch] as a crazy cello teacher [natch] who is obsessed with a younger man [David Boreanaz] who says he is a novelist. But we get into a fight and the film goes into a very weird and dark place and I end up publishing the boy’s novel as my own. It is a crazy film, by far the craziest character I have ever played and it keeps jumping genres as well as tone. I am really excited about it and will be dotting back and forward between the editing room and the Threepenny rehearsals. I imagine we will try and get it into a film festival at the end of this year or early next. It also stars Anne Heche, Henry Thomas, Karen Black, Jane Lynch and Carrie Fisher.
Who are your favorite actors?
Anyone who, when I am watching their performances, makes me forget that they are acting. I hate it when you can see people trying too hard or where the cogs and wheels or visible. Also I like people who put their vanity second to their character. Sadly that excludes most of Hollywood! I think Botox is the worst thing to happen to American screen acting EVER.
Your birthday is coming up. How are you planning to celebrate?
I think I am going to have a quiet one [famous last words]. Last year I was 40 and I had it at the Sundance Film Festival at the premiere of my film Reefer Madness and it was pretty full on and crazy. Because I am so busy right now I think I may just go to my house in the country and have a lot of sex with my boyfriend. I’ll probably get together with my friends at some point [although not during the sex of course].
You act, sing, have written a novel, have the fragrance, have modeled. Is there another area you intend on conquering like a restaurant, or a magazine?
Martha Stewart is my role model. I want to be the queer Martha. I want to have aprons and garden tools and measuring spoons with my name on them. I want to go to prison and wear ponchos my cellmates have made me. I want to rule the world.
Any New Year’s resolutions?
To take less shit. Really, and I’ve already put it into practice and have noticed the difference.
