Alan Cumming on 'The Traitors,' the Queer Subtext of 'X-Men' & Becoming a Fashion Icon

Over your four decades in the entertainment industry, your career has spanned television, movies—from Spy Kids to Burlesque—and theater. Now you’re also in the reality TV world with The Traitors, a Mafia-inspired competition show that pits “faithful” contestants against undercover “traitors.” It is gearing up for its fourth season. Did you think it would become such a sensation?

I had absolutely zero idea! I did it on a whim, because I like doing things that are outside my comfort zone. When the producers asked me to do it, I got what they were trying to do: elevate the reality competition format.

The show led to your first Emmy, for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program, in 2024. It’s interesting that you unseated RuPaul, another queer man portraying a heightened character, who had won this category for eight consecutive years.

It’s nice to win, but I don’t really like the rhetoric of “toppling RuPaul.” In a way, I think, Do queer people get to have one Emmy that we always win? Is this the “queer Emmy”? But if there was a show to end the dominance of RuPaul’s Drag Race—to give it a run for its money in terms of its queerness, theatricality, fashion sense, and drama—The Traitors was that show. It felt like I was picking up the baton, not stealing it.

The fashion in the show really is excellent. You’ve dressed like a scarecrow in a suit made from multiple types of plaid, and worn a black kilt with a sweeping opera coat for a “funeral” episode.

I told Sam Spector, who does the costumes, that I want my character to be this Scottish dandy. Sometimes I see his creations and I’m like, “What the fuck?” But then I’m like, “Okay, I’ll give it a try.” It really enables me to crank up the volume in a way that I never would if I was just wearing a normal suit.

Your dog, Lala, has become quite the breakout star thanks to her cameos on the show. How is she adjusting to her newfound fame?

When my husband takes her for a walk, she gets recognized on the street. Did you know that she gets dubbed? She doesn’t ever really make noise.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that, 22 years after playing Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, you’d be reprising that character in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday film. The Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn’t necessarily been the best with queer representation.

I think X2 is the gayest film I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in some pretty gay ones. Just in terms of the ethos of the X-Men—these outsiders who aren’t accepted, who have to stick together and pretend to not be who they are—that’s a gay allusion.

You came out in 1998, when actors were highly discouraged from doing so. Why did you decide to come out?

So many of the roles I was playing dealt with queerness, so I felt I should talk about my own experience. I had reached a certain level of fame, and people looked up to me. There’s something about my demeanor that I can go on The Tonight Show and talk about gay rights, and do it in a way that’s not scary to people. I once said I was the acceptable face of deviance in America.

Club Cumming, the bar you opened in the East Village in 2017, is now a go-to spot for queer people who want a dash of theatricality with their drinks. What’s it like running a bar?

It was just me wanting to have fun and wanting a mixture of people around. Also, it’s great if you’re anywhere and think, Where should we have a nightcap?—it’s like, Oh, I have a bar!

You won a Tony Award in 1998 for playing the emcee in Cabaret. You were initially reluctant to take on a musical. What persuaded you to do it?

Well, it was really Sam Mendes, who directed it in London. He convinced me that the way he wanted to do it would be the way that I would want to do it—to honor the grittiness, the sexuality, and the desperation of those cabaret clubs instead of a sanitized version.

You’re halfway to an EGOT. Is that something you’re gunning for?

My friend once said, “Alan has an EGOT. He has a Tony and an ego.” That was before the Emmy. Now I can say, “I’ve got an Emmy and a Tony.” Those sorts of things do draw attention to you, and you probably get paid more because of them. But in my house, I have all my awards on shelves going down to the basement. I don’t want people to come in and see my Tony over my shoulder or something. I think that’s cheesy.

Grooming by Michael Moreno for Oribe at The ONLY Agency; Photo Assistant: Zachary Helper; retouching: The Hand of God; Fashion Assistant: Ashley Lambert; Special Thanks to The St. Regis Hotel New York.