Actors who move between reality television and blockbuster franchises are rarely given credit for how similar the two jobs actually are. Both require instant reactions, a clear read of the room and the discipline to stay in character while everything around you is deliberately unstable. Alan Cumming has spent recent months in a castle full of competing players and then on a comic book set where the stakes are scripted but the scale is enormous. He describes the work as a matter of listening rather than performing, which is the answer most experienced stage actors give and the one that explains why they adapt so well to camera work. Fans should expect the overlap to be visible. The same watchfulness that makes a reality contestant interesting on screen makes a supporting role in a superhero film feel lived-in. Whether either project will be remembered as his best work is impossible to say, but the range itself is worth paying attention to.
Taylor Gates is an Indiana native who earned her BFA in Creative Writing from the University of Evansville. She fell in love with entertainment by watching shows about chaotic families likeFull House,The Nanny,Gilmore Girls, andThe Fosters.After college, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a writer, editor, and filmmaker. Today, she’s a sucker for dramedies — especially coming-of-age stories centering around complex female and LGBTQ+ characters. She has been with Collider since May 2022.
Like anyTraitorsfan, my cortisol levels have been trained to spike every time I seeAlan Cumming. His presence, though always fabulous — accompanied by an elaborate outfit and wickedly witty monologue — signals that something big is about to happen: a tough challenge, a tense banishment, or a brutal murder. So it’s strange how calm I immediately feel while chatting with the host of one of Peacock's most addictive shows. Perhaps it's nostalgia. Like many millennials, my first introduction to him was inSpy Kids, and though he played a deranged TV show host who was building henchmen made of thumbs in that movie, it was a comfort watch.
Or maybe it’s because the man I'm talking to isn’t the same one I see on my TV every Thursday. Cumming has spoken about the fact that he approaches his hosting persona much like he would any other character, playing a role that happens to share his face and name. Of course, there are places where the lines blur (his casual striped earth-toned sweater and chunky yellow glasses are undeniably chic, and he talks about the show’s chaos with an unmistakably gleeful glint in his eye), but there’s a sensitivity and humility to the real Cumming.
It’s hard to overstate just how accomplished Cumming is. His list of accolades is a mile long, including Emmys, Tonys, BAFTAs, Oliviers, and Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations — not to mention the honors he’s received for his advocacy for animal and LGBTQ+ rights. Despite all this, Cumming comes off incredibly grounded, offering both thoughtful intelligence and cheeky irreverence. Despite his on-camera wit, he reveals that he often gets nervous, which might come as a surprise to anyone familiar with his work. He’s refreshingly candid when it comes to offering his thoughts on everything from the Real Housewives and theMCUto the state of the industry and the more heartbreaking moments in his career that is still flourishing in his 60s.
‘The Traitors’ Isn’t a Reality Show — It’s a Psychological Experiment
Reality TV often gets a bad rap, snobbishly deemed trashy or lowbrow, but loyal devotees know the truth: it’s a fascinating study inhuman behavior. For those unfamiliar,The Traitorsworks similarly to Mafia or Werewolf, where a group of Faithfuls attempts to vote out the hidden Traitors, who are secretly sabotaging the game and conspiring to “murder” a Faithful every night. If the Faithfuls manage to banish all of the Traitors, they win the money accumulated over the course of the game, but if even one Traitor is left, that Traitor takes all the cash for themself. Obviously, this makes for a tense environment where loyalties are tested, betrayal is inevitable, and every word and microexpression becomes heavily scrutinized.
Cumming describes it as a psychological experiment. “People are put into a situation that is incredibly taxing and difficult,” he explains. “It’s likely that they will be pushed in psychological ways that they wouldn't normally be and react in ways they wouldn't normally react.” Like most reality shows, the contestants are cut off from the outside world, left with their fellow players in a remote Scottish castle. “It's got an element ofLord of the Flies— they're all in this bubble together.”
Contestants naturally gravitate toward like-minded people, building alliances with those they trust. This can make for sweet, surprising connections, but it can also expose people’s inherent biases and give insight into how people’s brains work. For instance, people’s careers come up a lot, particularly towards the beginning of the game when there isn’t much strategy or shared history to go on. While Cumming understands the rationale, he thinks that certain professions being more or less suited to doing well in the show is a myth. He points to Abby — the astrophysicist fromThe Traitors'new season on NBC, who people constantly look to for an opinion despite her theories consistently being wrong — as well as the “gamers” from shows likeThe ChallengeandBig Brotherbeing harshly targeted in previous installments. “It’s a natural thing,” Cumming admits. “You see people going into tribes, sticking together, and having solidarity, but sometimes, people over-obsess about it. There are skills you can have, but it's so much more arbitrary than that. It’s more about having instincts that don’t necessarily have to do with gaming. That's what I like about the game.”
It’s more about having instincts that don’t necessarily have to do with gaming.
Currently, the show is edited in such a way that the audience knows who the Traitors are from the start — and can therefore yell at the TV if the Faithfuls are trusting one of the foxes in the henhouse. Some viewers have expressed a desire to play the game along with the Faithfuls, so to speak, having the option to watch a version that hides the Traitors’ identities. The show tried a miniature version of this last season, when they assigned one Secret Traitor, though Cumming admits this twist didn’t work out as well as they’d hoped, perhaps becauseDonna Kelcewas voted out so quickly.
Besides, Cumming thinks not knowing the identity of any Traitors would ruin a fundamental aspect of the series. “I think the whole point of the game is that we know who the baddies are and you can watch everybody trying to work it out,” he says, noting that the “feeling of superiority” viewers have is a necessary ingredient. “I think it would be a different show. We are able to watch people lie —havingto lie — and other people trying to work out who liars are. We don’t get to see that in life. We don't really get to watch people lying with impunity the way they do it in this show.”
That doesn’t mean the show’s format remains stagnant. From shields that guarantee immunity to Traitors being forced to commit murder in plain sight,The Traitorsconstantly introduces twists and turns to keep things interesting. Nowhere is this more apparent than the elaborate challenges contestants must participate in, from running up mountains to searching bug-ridden cabins to repeating the songs of haunted dolls. “There’s a team that builds them,” Cumming reveals. “And here are people who come in as stand-in contestants that test them all. They are incredibly well organized and brilliantly orchestrated.” Cumming also credits the British version of the show, hosted byClaudia Winkleman, for helping them to run smoothly. “A lot of the missions are similar. Usually, the team has been working together for a while, so by the time we get to them, they're in pretty good shape.”
Cumming Has Built a Character Fit for a ‘Clue’ Reboot
HostingThe Traitorsis a unique task — one that’s not without pressure. Cumming is pulling double duty as both host and producer, analyzing and driving various story beats behind the scenes and in real time in front of the camera. The information he delivers must be simultaneously clear and entertaining, but it must also be emotionally effective. The element of surprise is key to capturing authentic reactions, which means there’s not much margin for error. Nowhere is this more daunting for Cumming than at the roundtables, which are always kicked off with a weighty speech. “I don't want to be doing different takes because [the contestants] are all in such a state of high tension,” he says. “Part of the purpose of the host is to create the mood, both for the audience to watch the show and also for the players to give it their best and feel the tension or release. My job is to guide them into how they should be feeling, or even sort of cajole or manipulate them into feeling a certain way and therefore acting in a certain way.”
Cumming credits his stand-up comedy experience and extensive theater background for giving him the skills necessary to overcome his anxiety and improvise in the moment. “You've got to roll with the punches and be spontaneous,” he explains. “That's really important. [I’ve had to learn] to be calm in situations that are highly stressful — and any live performance is pretty stressful.” Despite the challenges, Cumming has a blast slipping in and out of the persona. “I really enjoy him. It's sort of like being in an immersive experience for me as well. As soon as I leave my room in the castle, I am him. I'm able to turn him on and off a little bit with a sentence here and there.”
The intricate outfits certainly don’t hurt either. While every single episode features multiple over-the-top fashion pieces, there are three that stick out in Cumming’s mind as the most memorable: the funeral garb in Season 2, the wedding dress in Season 3, and the coffin outfit in Season 4. “Those were insane,” he recalls. “I mean, they're always a bit insane, but those ‘occasion’ ones are pretty out there.”
Considering Cumming’s host persona is a fictional character, I wonder if he’d ever bring that persona into a fictionalized project. While Cumming has done a version of him for a few commercials recently, he’s certainly open to a longer narrative piece. “If you're going to remakeClueor something, he would be pretty amazing,” he admits. “He could be in lots of things, actually.”
Cumming Talks Fruitgate and His ‘Traitors’ Found Family
The current season ofThe Traitors: New Bloodon NBC marks the first time the U.S. branch has ever invited “civilians” — aka non-famous people — to play the game, which Cumming says has led to welcome surprises. “I didn't have a great deal to go on aside from the research notes I got about them, so it was really lovely to find out more about them and to get to know them better. I've been really impressed by that cast.”
The season has seen no shortage of shocking moments, from “Tiny Traitor” Katie’s recruitment to the heartbreaking elimination of fan-favorite Michael, but nothing has dominated the conversation quite like Fruitgate. In a wild turn of events, Faithful and common suspect Victor caught Traitors Joe and Tomica committing a murder in plain sight by throwing an apple to Niyyah and has spent days trying to convince the other skeptical Faithfuls of his theory. “I love it,” Cumming says. “I love that Victor's having this sort of validation. He’s a great character who’s blossomed through the show. I'm loving, ‘The fruit shall set you free.’”
The latest episode saw the first hints that more Traitor-on-Traitor crime might be coming, when Tomica accidentally said she was suspicious of Katie. Some viewers have expressed frustration with the Traitors throwing each other under the bus, but Cumming doesn’t share their sentiment. “I think it's an essential part of the game, actually,” he says. “I think it's inevitable.” Cumming encourages those who aren’t fans of the Traitors turning on each other to keep an open mind this time around. “It goes pretty well in this season, I have to say,” he teases. “There’s a great finish that you will not see coming.”
This show is a microcosm of America — please, let this be the America that I want and not that I fear it is.
For a game about deception,The Traitorsincludes a remarkable amount of real heart. Take, for example, the conversation this season where Michael, an openly gay contestant, thanked Joe, a more traditionally “masculine” man, for having his back, healing some of his childhood wounds. “I thought that was a lovely moment,” Cumming says, revealing that there was another beautiful conversation involving Michael that didn’t make the show where he actually encouraged people to vote him out instead of Tomica. “Michael said a really amazing thing when there was heat on [them both]. He said, ‘Please, let's not vote another woman-of-color off. This show is a microcosm of America — please, let this be the America that I want and not that I fear it is.’”
While Cumming hasn’t gotten a chance to spend much time with this cast outside of the castle due to his demanding work schedule, he messages with Joe and Michael regularly. His bar in Manhattan, Club Cumming, has also emerged as a hotspot forTraitorsmeetups. The show’s alumni truly become a found family, keeping in touch years after filming their seasons. “What's been lovely is, when I am in New York, and I go to Club Cumming, some of the old [contestants] come along,” Cumming says, revealing that Season 1 winnerCirie Fields, Season 2’s PilotPete Weber, and Season 3’sWes Bergmannhave all stopped by for viewing parties. “Club Cumming has become this little cast hangout. I like that it’s become aTraitors'venue.”
Cumming Teases ‘Traitors’ 2027 and Beyond
Those who are sad that this season ofThe Traitorsis gradually coming to a close shouldn’t fear — there’s more to come, with the next season slated to premiere soon. Cumming has been hard at work hosting the show, offering an exciting update on its progress. “We finished it a couple of weeks ago, so it's all done and dusted,” he reveals. “It’s pretty great. Juicy and hilarious. It’s a very, very, very, very good combo of people.”
That combination of people includes everyone fromRuPaul’s Drag RacestarBianca Del Rioto former NFL playerRashad Jennings, Broadway legendKristin Chenowethto two-time Olympic gold medalistChloe Kim. Cumming calls Kim one of the more surprising contestants they managed to get; “People like that, I think, ‘God, how did this happen?’” Season 3’sLord Ivar Mountbattenand Season 2’sJohn Bercow, the former Speaker of the House of Commons, stand out to him as well. “I remember in the interview, I said to [John], ‘What are you doing here?’’ Cumming recalls. “It’s just like, ‘What the fuck?’ It’s usually randos like him that are pretty crazy. Those are the ones that I find most hilarious — the ridiculousness of them.”
There are, of course, also a smattering of Housewives slated for Season 6: Salt Lake City’sBronwyn Newport, Atlanta’sCynthia Bailey, and Potomac’sGizelle Bryant. Cumming finds the women from that franchise particularly amusing. “I love the way that the Housewives all think they're being persecuted,” he laughs.
Although the show has brought on several famous faces, Cumming has said before that his dream contestant would beMartha Stewart. Could that be more plausible now that she’s making regular appearances onThe Real Housewives of New Yorkalongside new cast memberDaisy Toye? “I hope so,” Cumming says. “She's hilarious, and she’d be fascinating. I think one of the things with the celebrity show is that you get insight into people you know, and you get to see them in this fish-out-of-water situation and see a side of them you wouldn't normally see. I would love Martha, to be honest. I'm still Team Martha.”
The 10 Best Alan Cumming Movies, According to Rotten Tomatoes
The Scottish actor's films have seen plenty of praise from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
The chalkboards each contestant has to write their vote for banishment on have become characters in and of themselves, as names are often misspelled — sometimes to hilarious degrees. “Sometimes, they manage to mangle the really easy names, so I have to try to keep a straight face when those chalkboards are turned around, and you see the spelling,” Cumming admits. He teases plenty more chaos with those in the next season. “There was one person whose name came up quite a lot on many episodes who started to get infuriated that people were spelling her name with one letter wrong. It was kind of hilarious. It's almost like they're doing it on purpose. I guess the thing is, if you were to ask someone how you spell their name, they’d kind of know you’re going to vote for them.”
While the iconic Scottish castle backdrop has become synonymous withThe Traitors, Cumming can envision taking the show on the road eventually — preferably to somewhere warmer. “It's funny, when we did the first one — before we knew it was going to have a second season or become this huge juggernaut of success — I said, ‘Maybe [my character] owns a villa in the south of France,’” Cumming shares. “I think some swanky locations around the world would definitely work. A riad in Morocco in something — things like that. Anywhere that's sort of [luxurious] and kind of ancient or dark and spooky. Maybe we'll get a little jaunt to his summer pad at some point.”
Marvel, Mergers, and Memoirs — Cumming Shares What’s Next for Him
Cumming is a busy man, with over 10 projects released this year alone, ranging fromToy Story 5toRussell T. Davies’ miniseriesTip Toeto reprising the role of Nightcrawler in the upcomingAvengers: Doomsday. However, his knowledge of Marvel projects starts and ends withWandaVision(which he watched and loved), so please don't quiz him on the ins and outs of the MCU. It's not because he doesn’t think he’d like the other projects, but because he simply doesn’t have the bandwidth to keep up. “I don't know how people have the time!’ he says. “I really don't. I feel like there are so many — it’s impossible. I'm never going to have the time to catch up, so it feels daunting.”
His lack of MCU knowledge presented a few complications on the set ofDoomsday, particularly when it came to keeping everyone straight. “Some people have different names,” he says. “They have different names, and they become superheroes, all that sort of stuff. It was very confusing to me.” His approach to Nightcrawler was simple: “I just try to understand my bits and play the voice.”
Despite the challenges Cumming encountered on set, he assures me that he thoroughly enjoyed the process of making the movie — a stark contrast to the last time he played him inX2: X-Men United. Cumming has been open about his negative experience on the 2003 film, citing a toxic environment due toBryan Singer. He says being asked back was “completely out of the blue” and “really nice,” even calling it a healing experience. “I forgot how much I liked [Nightcrawler]," Cumming says. “When I look back on last time, I don't really think much about the playing of him and the character — it's all sort of mired in the whole awful nature of the fact that making it was so difficult. He’s got a sensitive side, and he's quite funny. It was nice to go back to something and remember how much you actually enjoyed it.” While he says his screen time is relatively minimal, he thinks fans will be happy with his role. “He's got nice bits, but there's a lot of superheroes in that film. It's so nuts. It's like superhero soup.”
Doomsdayisn’t the only movie that will see Cumming step back into a part after a couple of decades away. He will also be reprising the role of unpopular geek-turned-successful businessman Sandy Frick inRomy and Michele 2, which is slated to release next year. “That was really fun,” Cumming reminisces. “We shot that this summer, and it was lovely to go back to that character. With Nightcrawler, he's the same — just a bit older. He's got gray hair now. Whereas inRomy and Michele, the character changed a bit. He’s different from when you left him in the last film to now. There are some quite big things that have happened in his life. It was fun to go back to a character in an entirely different way. I really enjoyed it.” Reuniting with longtime palLisa Kudrowcertainly didn’t hurt, either. “I just love Lisa so much,” Cumming gushes. “We get on so well and have such a laugh together. I think she's brilliant, and it's so nice to be back on that set working with her. We've done a few things together over the years and stayed friends, so that was lovely. It's always a pleasure with her.”
I forgot how much I liked [Nightcrawler].
Cumming has been part of numerous projects that have made an indelible mark on pop culture, fromCabarettoSpice World, but he also has a slew of underrated ones that deserve another look. He recommends you start withSchmigadoon, which he had theSeason 3scripts for before it tragically got axed, and the 2012 filmAny Day Now. “It's a beautiful film about a gay couple trying to adopt a child with Down syndrome in the ‘70s,” Cumming says. “Travis Finedirected it, andGarrett Dillahuntplayed my partner in it. I just really loved it. That's one of the ones I think, ‘Oh, I wish more people had seen that.’ The people who do see it are blown away by it. It's so moving and beautiful.”
Unfortunately, it’s never been a scarier time in the industry for people who crave bold, daring projects likeSchmigadoonandAny Day Now, particularly withSkydance-Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. “I don't think it's healthy that a small group of people own so many outlets,” Cumming bluntly says. “Inevitably, being under one big conglomerate, some lack of individuality will happen. That means you lack idiosyncrasy, and therefore, ultimately lack authenticity. I feel that the future is so homogenized, and that’s worrying to me creatively as well as on a more urgent level of access to different opinions. That, to me, feels dangerous. It’s like we’re being forced to watch something, and it’s a bit polemic. I feel really terrified that, on a larger scale, it's going to mean that information can be lost and a certain type…of news is going to be delivered to so many people without any other options.”
Luckily, we still have people like Cumming fighting the good fight, using their influence to help bring fresh, original stories to the forefront in a variety of mediums, from film and TV to theater plays and musicals. Between his Tony for Best Actor in a Musical inCabaretand the several Emmys he’s received from hostingThe Traitors, Cumming is halfway to an EGOT. Is it a goal of his, I wonder, to try and complete it with a Grammy and Oscar? Cumming immediately laughs off the question. “No, it’s not. And it's slightly annoying that I've won all these Emmys because my friends used to say, ‘Oh, Alan has an EGOT — he’s got a Tony and a big ego.’ Now, I can’t do that because I’ve got TandE.”
One thing that might be in Cumming’s future, however, is another memoir after releasingNot My Father’s Sonin 2014 andBaggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Lifein 2019, where he explored his difficult childhood and the highs and lows of Hollywood. “The reason to write a memoir is that you want to talk about something,” Cumming explains. “You obviously want to tell people about your life, but there's a reason — you've learned something, or you've got something to share. So much has happened since the last one. What’s interesting about having a big sort of cultural phenomenon moment likeThe Traitorsis that it kind of teaches you a lot of things about the business, and your career, and longevity, and stuff like that. There's a lot more to do, and I think I've changed as a person. Yeah, I actually would quite like to write another one.”
There are undoubtedly still countless behind-the-scenes secrets to be spilled and wisdom to be gained from Cumming. The three years alone have seen him facilitate jaw-dropping drama and lifelong friendships alike in a magnificently mischievous Scottish castle, return to two major franchises after decades away, and win a whopping six Emmys. Cumming doesn’t just have the material for another memoir — he has enough to fill a whole library.
Photographer: Lenne Chai |ProductionDesigner: Dane Johnson |Assistants: Daniel Ramos, Ames Hoang, Lanee Bird |Grooming: Ermahn Ospina |Styling: Sam Spector and Brooke Llwelyn |FullLook: Todd Snyder |Shoes: Aion Los Angeles
