With all this stuff going on, with the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and things like that, we are second-class citizens, definitely.
ALAN CUMMINGWith all this stuff going on, with the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” and things like that, we are second-class citizens, definitely.
ALAN CUMMINGI actually find in America, there’s a slight snobbery about actors who go back and forth between big heavy dramas and popcorn fare. That always intrigues me, because that doesn’t exist in the same way in Britain. And I imagine it would be worse.
ALAN CUMMINGSo the experts think we could have an AIDS-free generation in Africa by 2015, even if the mothers are positive.
ALAN CUMMINGI think American actors are much more intimidated by Shakespeare. I actually want to do this Shakespeare play in New York, but I think it’s interesting that there’s this gaping hole in the repertoire in the American theater, which is Shakespeare.
ALAN CUMMINGYou could then, when you lay that as the groundwork, say, “Here I am. This is what I think. I come in peace.” Then you’re able to push out, to be able to talk about more things. And that’s been a really heartening thing about my life, actually.
ALAN CUMMINGI like the tragedies way more than the comedies because they’re so universal.
ALAN CUMMINGI don’t feel I’m a compulsive person. I multitask. I’m really well-organised, and I have lots of people to help me.
ALAN CUMMINGI started to itch to do a play again and ‘Macbeth’ came to the surface in my mind. I never thought I would do it in a conventional way. A sweaty Macbeth with blood on his arms coming in fresh from the battle doesn’t interest me.
ALAN CUMMINGActors aren’t stupid, mostly, and if there’s a sensibility and an aesthetic that a director’s going for, if you’re aware of that too, you can do things to help that.
ALAN CUMMINGFinally, the scariest thing about abuse of any shape or form, is, in my opinion, not the abuse itself, but that if it continues it can begin to feel commonplace and eventually acceptable.
ALAN CUMMINGOften for me, if I hear a song I know, it clicks for me and I hear it in a different way and I think, “I could sing that song. I’ve got something to say about that song. Wanting to connect with an audience and wanting them to rethink songs.
ALAN CUMMINGI wouldn’t do my roles if I really hated it. I’ve done things I hated, but I didn’t go into them thinking I would hate them. I want to have fun. I don’t want to go to work and not enjoy it.
ALAN CUMMINGSo if I’m swirling around on some wires, talking to Fred Flintstone, I make it the funnest I can. I also want to be good at it. I don’t want to be a crap cartoon character. I want to be proud I’m a vitamin!
ALAN CUMMINGSome things are just really difficult to do. That’s what I find hard. I usually can find a way to do a character to make it real and work. But sometimes it’s a struggle sustaining that, because there’s such a level of personal involvement and personal, physical, and emotional distraughtness.
ALAN CUMMINGYou should *have* an experience; it shouldn’t just *be* an experience.
ALAN CUMMINGIt’s hardly ever done, compared to how often it’s done in other companies, not just Britain. Someone from the Roundabout Theater Company – I said, “You never do Shakespeare.” And he said, “Yes, we’re not very good at it.” And I thought, “What a terrible thing to say.”.
ALAN CUMMING