Alan Cumming makes supporting parts conspicuous through physical expressiveness, mischief and a willingness to look excessive. We value the detail beneath the camp, though the mannerisms can become more interesting than the character.
Fi1m perspective
Alan Cumming is worth watching even when the role is labelled Desk Clerk. In Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), his small appearance has the energy and detail of a character who might warrant a longer stay. We perked up when he appeared, because his expressive playing brought a welcome liveliness to a film whose extended conversations can test our patience. Kubrick’s slow, intimate thriller does not need that from every supporting actor. From Cumming, in a small dose, it works.
GoldenEye (1995), directed by Martin Campbell, gives him the computer hacker Boris Grishenko and a brisker film to inhabit. It belongs to his move into Hollywood supporting roles in the mid-1990s. His heightened playing suits a Bond film we like for its action and Pierce Brosnan’s persuasive lead performance. Cumming gives a supporting character definition quickly, which matters when there is other business to get on with. We would still choose it chiefly for Brosnan and Campbell, but his taste for mischief is welcome here.
His theatre work helps explain the confidence of those appearances. As the Emcee in Cabaret (1998), directed by Sam Mendes, he worked with physical expressiveness and a direct connection to the audience. The screen career also includes a different kind of involvement: on The Anniversary Party (2001), he was co-writer, co-director and co-star alongside Jennifer Jason Leigh. Moving between family films such as Spy Kids (2001) and the long television run of Eli Gold in The Good Wife (2010–2016), he has not settled into one kind of employment.
The later hosting work on The Traitors is another use for that ease with an audience. Our reservation is that exaggerated mannerisms can become the main event, leaving too little attention for the character. We enjoy his willingness to be theatrical, but not every part benefits from it. Start with Eyes Wide Shut if you want to see how little space he needs.
Biography
Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor, filmmaker and presenter. He was born on 27 January 1965 in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, and trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, graduating in 1985.
Cumming is known for stage roles including the Emcee in the Broadway revival of Cabaret (1998), for which he won a Tony Award, and earlier work in the West End production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1991). His film credits include Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye (1995), Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids films (2001–2003) and Nightcrawler in X2 (2003). On television he played Eli Gold in The Good Wife (2010–2016).
