Latest Alan Cumming Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I 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. So 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 Cumming

  Fun, Hate, Character

  Source: film.avclub.com

• If the president of the country is not actually saying something, allowing equality to happen, how could you expect to counsel kids not to bully other kids? If they're not seeing that their society sees gay people as equals, how could you tell them what they're doing is wrong? With all this stuff going on, with the "Don't ask, don't tell" and things like that, we are second-class citizens, definitely. It just seems to me that it's hypocritical for us as a culture to say, "Bullying is a terrible thing," when really, they are just reflecting what the society is doing.

  Alan Cumming

  Country, Bullying, Kids

  Source: film.avclub.com

• 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. 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.

  Alan Cumming

  Thinking, People, Honest

  Source: film.avclub.com

• Some 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 Cumming

  Real, Struggle, Character

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I 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. 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. I'm really intrigued by it. I don't know why that is. But I'm aiming to break down those barriers by being in a Shakespeare film and a Smurfs film within six months of each other.

  Alan Cumming

  Drama, Film, Imagine

  Source: film.avclub.com

• I 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. It'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

  Thinking, Interesting, Done

  Source: film.avclub.com

• If you are a cabaret artist and you are mostly singing other people's songs, you're asking them to rethink a song, listen to it in a different way. The most impact you can have while asking them to re-listen to a song is if it's a song they know very well.

  Alan Cumming

  Song, Artist, Impact

  "Cumming around again". Interview with Gregg Shapiro, chicago.gopride.com. February 18, 2016.

• Often 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; it 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.

  Alan Cumming

  Song, Thinking, People

  "Cumming around again". Interview with Gregg Shapiro, chicago.gopride.com. February 18, 2016.

• Usually, there's a story I've told that leads up to why I'm singing the song. The whole concept of the show was about being authentic and connecting with these songs. The best way to do that was in a room with an audience and for people to listen to that.

  Alan Cumming

  Song, People, Singing

  "Cumming around again". Interview with Gregg Shapiro, chicago.gopride.com. February 18, 2016.

• It's interesting, for me sappy means sentimental and something that gets you in your heart, gets you emotional. That's what I mean. Also, of course, it means that I'm slightly setting up the audience that there's a bit of fun involved, as well.

  Alan Cumming

  Fun, Heart, Mean

  Interview with Gregg Shapiro, chicago.gopride.com. February 18, 2016.

• It's exciting to be with really, really good people. Some people make you feel like you've got to up your game. Working with good people is always good.

  Alan Cumming

  Games, People, Like You

  Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. December 12, 2010.