Lovers Film Festival 40, interview with actor Alan Cumming

At the 40th Lovers Film Festival, FRED Film Radio interviewed actor Alan Cumming who has been awarded the “Stella della Mole” prize. An award given to personalities who have left an indelible mark on the world of cinema and beyond.

The power over our body

There is a very high price to pay in terms of acceptance by others in deciding to be yourself to the fullest. Do you think it is only by having power over your own body that you can be truly free, despite everything and everyone? “I just don’t understand the obsession with people’s bodies,” says Alan Cumming. “Especially in America, I just don’t understand why they’re so obsessed with trans people’s bodies, women. As a Scottish person, I really believe in the act of self-determination. That you should decide what you do with who you are. I think Scotland should be able to self-determine as a country. I think women should be able to self-determine about their own bodies, governments, and especially usually white men should not be able to dictate to women what they can do. It’s terrible what’s happening right now in America that if you’re in a state where abortion is banned, if you leave that state to go to have an abortion elsewhere, you can be charged. And I think also trans people should be allowed to self-determine about their own bodies.”

You can’t stop change

There is the legitimization in politics of a violent and anti-inclusion language. Trump is an example but is not the only one. If those who govern us are the first that exclude the other, what kind of society can we build? “I really believe it’s about fear of the other and of the unknown”, says Alan Cumming. “And I think that right now, I feel we’re suffering a worldwide backlash because in the last decade or so, there have been great strides, especially in terms of trans people and non-binary people, and those concepts being more understood in the mainstream, that people understand. Like my old Scottish lady mom. I have some trans friends and she absolutely gets what is going on and she accepts that and is not afraid of it. But I think most people either don’t know about it or are angry in some way about it because it upsets the way we’ve been used to. And I think a lot of the anger against women, against trans people, against people of color as well, is all to do with the fact that we are going through a huge seismic shift in the world and we have much better communication so people are able to understand things about other people. We are changing in terms of the demographic, in terms of color and gender, and it’s just very scary for people. And I think mostly the people who are in power, and sadly right now it seems across the world they tend to be more right-wing, white, older men mostly, they are determined to stop this and it’s impossible to stop it. It’s like they’re playing the violin as the Titanic goes down. It’s not going to be stopped”.

Avengers: Doomsday

Alan Cumming is returning to play Nightcrawler in “Avengers: Doomsday“. How important does he think it is to be a part of a film like this to reach a wider audience and represent queerness? “I’m very excited to go back and play this character”, says the actor. “I think actually the X-Men and comic books in general are very queer. The whole idea that they have to hide things about themselves and they’re apart from society and they’re kind of ostracized, it’s a very queer analogy. It’s great to sort of have a platform to talk about things but I think in a way, the X-Men and those characters themselves are pretty queer anyway and I love the fact that comic book culture is very queer friendly. It seems like a sort of little straight boy thing but actually it’s very queer friendly. I’m just excited to go back to something and have a better experience of doing it than I did the last time. I’m not one to hold back with my opinions and I’m very conscious of the fact that I have a platform and I want to make sure that people understand what it’s like to be queer and especially in America or places where people are being persecuted. That’s really important to me”.

Elton John

What is the film, concert o tv show thanks to which What is the film thanks to which Alan Cumming felt represented for the first time on the screen? “I remember being little and seeing Elton John perform and thinking: ‘Oh’. But of course, he was closeted at the time. I was really perceptive, obviously. But I saw in him the kind of the sort of theatricality and the camp and his and it’s in a performative way. He was very comfortable with his sexuality. But of course, in real life, he wasn’t then. But I saw through it. ‘Of course, I am a superhero’”.