Actors 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 CUMMINGIt is actually important to do songs they’re familiar with. Also, I love those songs. In a way, I think I’ve changed people’s perceptions of what a cabaret show like this could be.
More Alan Cumming Quotes
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Nowadays people don’t know how to handle it if all the ends aren’t tied up and they’re not told what to think in films. And if they’re challenged, they think it’s something wrong with the film.
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Working with good people is always good.
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In my first year at drama school, I did this kids’ show called ‘Let’s See.
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It’s really rare for film directors to be that interested in things other than themselves.
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I’m not a fan of Twitter.
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In terms of the sort of class, and the sort of snobby, slightly on the back-foot thing Britain has. But it’s much more prevalent in America.
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I like working on things that are very different and that involve different disguises.
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I was horrified when Richard Chamberlain and Rupert Everett said gay actors should stay in the closet. They were saying to people that they should live a lie and not be liberated, to live in fear of being found out.
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You should *have* an experience; it shouldn’t just *be* an experience.
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He … knew, in that instant, that his life would not be an easy one-he was different, he looked different, he thought differently.
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Pantomime is a big thing in the cultural calendar of my country, you know. So subtlety’s not my forte.
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Finally, 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.
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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.
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You do get really exhausted doing films. You work such long hours, and after a while, things can get out of perspective, just like if anyone’s tired, things get on top of them.
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My feeling about work is it’s much more about the experience of doing it than the end product. Sometimes things that are really great and make lots of money are miserable to make, and vice versa.
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A sweaty Macbeth with blood on his arms coming in fresh from the battle doesn’t interest me.
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I’ve actually found – especially doing my cabaret show – I’m connecting with people in a way I haven’t connected with them. I’ve found that when you’re open and honest, people respond to that, whatever you’re being open and honest about.
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I love a film where I get squished by two dumpsters or I fly through the air.
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It’s actually quite a good ethos for life: go into the unknown with truth, commitment, and openness and mostly you’ll be okay.
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Actually I like working kind of fast, because if you got it, why bother doing it over and over?
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There are some days when you don’t feel like being Alan Cumming.
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I was so scared of going back to the theatre after Hamlet. I didn’t know if I’d do a play again because I was afraid of the power of it.
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You 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.
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My mum always told me I was precious, while my dad always told me I was worthless. I think that’s a good grounding for a balanced life.
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Performing a one-man Macbeth feels like the greatest challenge.
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For example, Americans seem reluctant to take on Shakespeare because you don’t think you’re very good at it – which is rubbish. You’re missing out here.
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