‘Traitors’ Host Alan Cumming on the Cheekiest Character of His Career — Himself — and Why He Doesn’t Watch ‘Real Housewives’
Alan Cumming isn’t much of a reality TV fan — so as host of Peacock’s “The Traitors,” he enjoys being a bit blind to the baggage that many of the contestants carry to the Scottish Highlands.
“When I go to do ‘The Traitors, I have a crash course in reality TV stars, and random people,” he tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I don’t know who many of the people are. Because I juust don’t watch those shows. And actually I quite like it, just to meet the people on those their own terms — rather than that with all the history they bring.”
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Cumming much prefers watching them plot and scheme inside the game of “The Traitors,” vs whatever it is they do on the “Real Housewives” and its ilk. “I think that the culture of these shows is very much about creating drama,” he says. “The structures are the same, these kind of rich, affluent women, who all kind of gather and do various things. But ultimately, their petty beefs and infighting become the focus. And there’s lots of white wine being thrown at each other.
“One of the reasons I don’t watch those shows is I don’t really like the notion that we celebrate rich people behaving badly,” he adds. “That kind of behavior isn’t very nice. And it’s not my favorite thing at all. So actually, I think coming on ‘The Traitors’ is a leveling thing. You’re playing a game, and there’s enough drama just because of the game. You don’t have to bring any other stuff to it.”
There’s plenty to talk about when it comes to “The Traitors,” including the outlandish version of “Alan Cumming” the real Alan Cumming plays on the show. He also discusses the impact he hopes his wardrobe on “The Traitors” might have on the greater population, and the creepy scene between “Alan” and his trusty assistant “Fergus” that ultimately didn’t make the Season 2 cut. Additionally, we discuss the disappointing cancellation of “Schmigadoon!” and whether he’ll be doing anything else with “The Good Wife” universe. Listen below!
At the time of recording, Cumming was about to shoot Season 3 of “The Traitors,” and although there have been plenty of leaks as to who might be competing this time out, he’s mum on details. “I can say nothing. I can only hint,” he says. “I kind of purposely stay out of it. I do know, some of who the cast are, but it wasn’t finalized the last time I heard. I sort of I like I like being kind of slightly detached from it.”
Cumming is having a blast as host of “The Traitors,” which allows him to both give these big, outlandish speeches while also bringing a bit of improv to his interactions with the players.
“Chewing the scenery,” he says. “I really love that. It’s kind of dichotomy of absolute improvise, being in the moment, and then these big sort of set pieces. I can’t tell you how much I love this show. It’s such a left field thing for me to have done at this stage in my career. I think that’s also interesting for me, as the kind of performer I am, to be sort of subverting the notion of a host as well. Because I’m obviously hosting the show, but I’m also doing it in character. I’ve hosted things before like documentaries and shows. But nothing like this. This is very much a very different person to who actually I am.”
Then there’s the fashion, which Cumming credits to stylist Sam Spector. “I have always, in shoots and a lot of characters I’ve played, been quite outlandish, and I purposefully toy with sort of gender norms,” Cumming says. “I’m quite good at looking androgynous. I realized that if I go the whole hog and go drag, I’m not a very attractive lady. But I’m good at androgyny. I think that’s actually a really interesting thing about the show. In the midst of this big reality competition show, there’s someone who is bending the fashion, cultural mores of what a man should be wearing. And that, to me, is a really positive thing. Hopefully, when people go out into the world and see someone in the street who’s a bit more non-binary in their fashion tastes, they won’t be so surprised, or they’ll they’ll enjoy it more.”
As for Apple TV+’s cancellation of “Schmigadoon!,” Cumming says he was excited to return for Season 3, which was going to focus on the large-scale musicals of the 1980s and 1990s like “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Miserables” and more. Cumming says his role was to play a mashup of the Phantom of the Opera and a “Les Mis” Jean Valjean-style character. “It would have been a hoot,” he says. “In a way, it’s actually lovely that it didn’t run itself into the ground, but it would have been nice to do one more.”
As for whether we might see his “The Good Wife” character Eli Gold pop up again, Cumming notes that it’s always a possibility — because he wasn’t killed off in “The Good Fight,” as originally planned. “They said they wanted to kill me off. And I thought great, that’s what I’ll do. But the network or the studio, but didn’t want me to be killed off. One of the reasons they didn’t want to kill me is that, what if we want you to do a spin off? So it went from killing me off to within about three days to talking about spin off.. but nothing ever came of it.”
Also on this episode, the Roundtable discusses more of the last-minute category shuffles going on as Emmy season submissions are in, and campaigning shifts into high gear.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post weekly.
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