Alan Cumming, Maverick Golden Boy — WUSSY Mag

When we chatted, Cumming was in Italy, filming a cameo for the film Death do us part, which he told me would feature a gorgeous curly wig and a live iguana. Shortly after, he was back in Scotland, preparing to film the third season of The traitors, a show that has made him a household name to everyone in America he hadn’t yet managed to convince. Reality TV host is a new title for Cumming, but one he’s embraced with gusto. “I’m the strict dad of it all,” he said told the exhaust PuckEven more than in most such competitions, the host himself is a central character: Cumming addresses the cast in satin melodrama, his Scottish accent heightened to match his lavish costumes. Many are Cumming’s own clothes, accessorized with capes, kilts and other accessories by stylist Sam Spector to transform him into, as he puts it, “a dandy Scottish laird.”

A remake of the British original, the concept of The traitors is relatively simple – I call it “fancy mafia” because the rules essentially follow the classic summer camp game of murder and intrigue – but it has become a resounding success, thanks in part to the casting concept: from season two onwards, all the contestants are former contestants on other reality TV shows, from veterans of the Real Housewives franchise to competitions such as Survivor And Big brother. The format adds a layer of individual narrative control to the psychological dynamics of the game, which – combined with the Gothic Scottish backdrop – makes for intensely watchable content. “Pure, evil, shout-at-the-TV brilliance,” crowed The guard. Cumming declined to give details about season three, other than to assure us that it would be just as devilishly fun as the first two. “Oh, you’ll enjoy it,” he said, smiling coquettishly.

But holding court over one of television’s hottest new shows is just one of Cummings’ current projects, with many more to come. He’s currently touring Uncut and has a production deal with NBC-Universal to give them a first look at project ideas. He and Forbes Masson are working on a musical for the National Theatre of Scotland, and there is talk of a return to The Jubilee party with Jennifer Jason Leigh. And of course there is a Romy and Michele a sequel to the film coming soon.

“I don’t really have a list of things I want to do,” he said. “I like to be open to possibilities.” For an artist as unique as Cumming, there was never a prescribed list to follow anyway; the key to his success may be the joy with which he charted his course without a list.

“It’s liberating to be my age and look back and see the patterns of things,” he told me. “And I see that, through it all, the more daring I was, the more true to myself, the more people accepted me and respected my work.” If that’s Alan Cumming’s general rule, then it certainly applies.
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Photographer: Jamie Hopper
Photo Assistant: Landri Peirce
Stylist: Joey Ellington
Hair and make-up: Lauren Killip
Location: The Hotel Clermont // Atlanta, GA