Alan Cumming

(Talking about Calvin Klein) Alan: He was one of the first people when a designer suddenly was in the mainstream and he also brought homoeroticism in to the mainstream, I'd say.

(Talking about his father and how difficult it was growing up in a house run by him) Alan: My dad was quite strict. We did a lot of work on the estate all the time. My brother and I worked. And it wasn't, like... easy. It wasn't easy stuff we had to do. We were terrified of him. When there's an adult person who's scaring you, you grow up pretty quickly. The whole area of my dad is obviously very difficult for me to talk about. But my brother and I often talk about it: things like mowing the lawn in the dark. With his car lights on, so that I could see... it was a little excessive.

(On seeing one of his first play as a child a production about Bonnie Prince Charlie and and the Highland Clearances) Alan: I thought it was the most magical thing I'd ever seen. And I saw them putting all their props in a van afterwards and going on to the next thing. And I just thought - I want to do that.

(Answering a question about what part of acting he prefers Alan: My favorite part of acting... I suppose it would be just... to lose yourself in another person. I think acting's like... really, it's like being a child. You know when children play, they say, "Oh look, here's my dinosaur" and they believe it's a dinosaur, and so you believe it's a dinosaur, and I think that's the same thing as being an actor. I go to work, and I'm pretending that I've got half my brain, and I'm walking down this road.

(On what attracted him to "Tin Man" the 2007 mini-series reimagining "The Wizard of Oz") Alan: My agent sent it to me. People ask me to do things and I just go "Oh, let's do this" without thinking. I don't have any kind of plan. If something connects, I like it, it connects, it all seems like fun, I'll do it. I always have liked "The Wizard of Oz" and actually I've always kind of fantasized about it. I mean, I kind of like fantasy and fantastical thingsn

(Commenting on how the United States are perceived in the eyes of the world) Alan: Although the notion of America being a force for good is noble and beautiful, the reality of how the world sees America is very different: America is an imperialist power that invades oil and mineral rich countries on little or flimsy evidence, and at the same time turns a blind eye to blatant genocide taking place in other parts of the globe. American friends of mine [are] being afraid to open their mouths when abroad for fear of reprisal for their nation's 'force of good.' (And I'm not talkin' about scary, rearin' their head places like Russia or Iran. I'm talkin' about in like cool places like London).

(His advice to people trying to work as artists) Alan: Be yourself. You are the most interesting thing about yourself. Your life experience, your thoughts, who you are as a person is the most interesting thing about you as a person and as an artist. Don't try and be something that you're not as an artist. Just live your life and imbue your art with your experience.

(On his "coming out" as a bisexual man in the American press) Alan: There was sort of a coming out in America, in the American press. It is confusing for people because I'd been married before. Now I'm married again, to a man, but I'd been married to a woman, and gone out with women. And then, I hadn't really had regular relationships with men, long-term ones, I mean. But amongst my friends, amongst people I'd known, I was always bisexual. That wasn't a thing.

(About his experience writing "Tommy's Tale", his novel) Alan: I think I wanted to try and write a novel. I thought that would be quite a good challenge. I think people are quite resistant to actors who do things other than act, and the literary world is a bit snobby, so it was quite nice to be treated seriously in that world.

(On walking the line between independent and mainstream projects) Alan: To be blunt, sometimes I do things for money, and sometimes I do things because I feel passionate about them. Also, I think it's important that, for me to be able to get things like this made, I have to have a certain level of success and public awareness so that people will see films and want to give me money to make films.

(Commenting on his bid to become an American citizen in 2008) Alan: I've got the questions and the answers. Now all I've got to do is memorise them. It's just like learning a lot of lines, so I kind of think that as an actor, I'll be better prepared than most.

(On the many hats he wears in his career) Alan: I sort of think about it more as being an artist with some power. Because producing, writing, or directing, it's kind of all the same thing where you're just trying to tell a story. Especially when you're producing, for example, you have the ability to make something happen that otherwise you'd just be a part of if you're an actor. Although I'm producing lots more now, it just sort of happened because, in a way, if there's something I'm passionate about I've always tried to support it and bring it to fruition.

(on his personal philosophy) Alan: I find organised religion really menacing, especially living in America, where the power of religion is terrible. I believe what you give out in the world you get back. I would much rather think about the effects of what I do now when I'm alive; much more useful than thinking about what's going to happen to me after I die.

(while promoting "Tin Man" in the UK, Alan commented on the pigeonholing of out gay actors) Alan: Some of them do, but lots of straight actors get pigeonholed in various roles. I'm quite outspoken in the media about what I perceive as a civil rights struggle that gay people in America are still going through. But I don't think that I only play gay characters, or I wouldn't be as convincing if I had a wife or a girlfriend in a movie.

(On his relationship with Saffron Burrows after his divorce from Hilary) Alan Cumming: I was really lucky in that the first relationship I had after Hilary was with Saffron, who's really... understanding and a broadminded person. And who's now... As I'm sure you know. Well. She bats for both teams, too.

(on relating to the works of Christopher Isherwood) Alan: The thing about it that stands out for me is this idea of self-acceptance, especially when you're living under tyranny and oppression, of how the only thing you have is yourself and be happy with who you are.

(joint statement from Alan and Grant Schaffer following their Civil Union in January 2007) Alan and Grant: Not only are we so happy to be able to celebrate our love for each other, but also to be able to do it in a country that properly recognizes the rights of same sex couples. As residents of America we would have loved to marry there, but we hope that soon the civil rights that we have been afforded in the U.K. will be available to all gay Americans, and we look forward to celebrating not only our marriage, but the end of prejudice.

(when asked in an interview why he is successful in the US.) Alan Cumming: I am the acceptable face of sexual ambiguity, I'm like a naughty schoolboy - I can get away with stuff, say stuff that's controversial. I giggle a lot and I'm foreign - which is a big thing. I've done lots of heavyweight classy things. And I can dip my finger in trash quite easily.

(on receiving a Humanitarian Award at the San Francisco Human Rights Campaign Awards) Alan Cumming: We need to do everything we can to counteract the hatred and shame that so many people are propagating. They are wrong and we are not, but we need to be so strong in this fight, and we need to call them on it every single time.

(describing Stanley Kubrick, whom he worked with on "Eyes Wide Shut".) Alan Cumming: He's sort of a cuddly man! He was really warm and made me laugh, very dry sense of humour. He wore these little jackets with no sleeves and all little pockets to put pens in and those things. And he looked like an older, less scary version of Salman Rushdie. He was quite frail when we made the film, and he was smaller than I had thought. I thought he was going to be this scary big monster.

(on the death of Stanley Kubrick) Alan Cumming: I was very saddened. It seemed like the end of an era. But on the other hand Stanley Kubrick's work has become so seminal to the fabric of film that he will live on. He now is part of the essential vocabulary of film, and great directors still unborn will be influenced by him.