No, Alan Cumming Didn’t Expect to Become a Reality Star, Either: ‘Who Would’ve Thunk It?’

Scottish actor Alan Cumming has played lots of notable roles in his career: the nerdy computer programmer in the James Bond film “GoldenEye”; the Master of Ceremonies in Sam Mendes’ 1990s revival of “Cabaret” on London’s West End and on Broadway; the flirty desk clerk in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut”; all the parts in a 2012 theater production of “Macbeth”; King James in “Doctor Who”; campaign manager Eli Gold in “The Good Wife”; and a 32-year-old man who goes back to secondary school in the documentary “My Old School,” in which Cumming does an uncanny job of lip-syncing a recording of the real subject, who declined to appear on camera.

None of this was preparation for “The Traitors,” the Peacock reality show in which Cumming struts through a Scottish castle in fabulous outfits and presides over a game in which contestants, many of them veterans of other reality shows, aim to uncover the identity of “traitors” in their midst before they’re “murdered” by those traitors. The show’s four Emmy nominations for its second season include Outstanding Reality Competition Program and a hosting nod for Cumming, who is positively delicious as a campy overlord.

When I saw you playing the Master of Ceremonies in “Cabaret”on Broadway in 1998, I would never have thought, “That guy should host a reality show.”
( Laughs )

Granted, reality shows didn’t really exist back then. But was something like this ever part of your career ambitions?
No. I wouldn’t have envisioned it even three years ago. It’s kind of indicative of how I’ve gone about my career: I’ve always been eclectic and done weird, left-field things, but I’ve also stayed open to new things and new people and new places. I just went with my gut. And as you say, who would’ve thunk it?

What made you want to do it?
It’s based on a Dutch TV show, which compared to our version was a very toned-down, bare-bones kind of version. But I was intrigued by the show and intrigued by why they wanted me, because the host of the Dutch one wasn’t at all a character like I’m playing. And when I had a meeting with the producers, I realized they wanted me to camp it up and be a conduit to creating a slightly heightened reality, a Gothic sort of thing. So when I realized that’s what they wanted, I ran with it.

It strikes me that you could make “The Traitors” and play it very straight, no pun intended. If you get somebody like Jeff Probst to host and do the competition, it would still work as a reality competition show. But the campy Gothic attitude of your version is so integral to the show.
Yeah. And the fact that it’s in a castle in Scotland, which is a very theatrical country. So you’re already creating an atmosphere and upping the ante. I think it’s hilarious that I’m in the American version of the show, and the British version (which premiered three months before the U.S. version) is less camp than ours. ( Laughs ) That must be a first.

Did you immediately know how you wanted to play the role of host?
Not immediately. We had a couple of chats, and I said something about being a James Bond villain. I said, “Oh, maybe I should bring my dog and pat her.” That’s how Lala got the job. I told them I wanted to be a dandy Scottish laird who’s the ruler of his fiefdom.

I feel like the upped the ante on your outfits for the second season.
Yes. When you start something, everyone’s very nervous. It was new and it was a bit heightened and a bit camp and a bit unusual as a show. So everyone was stressed and thinking, How’s this gonna go down? And when everybody realized after the first season that people really responded to all those things – how I looked, the dandiness of it, the theatricality of it, the Gothic-ness of it – then everyone relaxed in the second season and we were able to go for it a bit more. And we really hit our stride, I think.

I love the fact that people do these “Traitors” parties in their houses and someone dresses up as me. ( Laughs ) It’s spawned this whole subculture of people dressing up in funny tartans and rolling their r’s and things like that. I just think it’s such fun.

And did you practice saying the words traitor and murder with the right amount of hissy venom?
Well, I’m doing a theatrical version of hosting a show and I thought about my voice in the same way. I don’t speak like that normally. So things like traitor and murder , I hit those to add to the immersive experience of watching the show. It’s like Catherine O’Hara playing Moira Rose on “Schitt’s Creek.” Someone said in an Instagram post that it’s me as Moira Rose playing Alan Cumming in “The Traitors.” ( Laughs )

Do the contestants ever see you not in character?

I really try to avoid that. Especially this last season, I really made sure they didn’t. Occasionally I would be arriving in the morning with Lala and our paths might have crossed a couple of times. Or I’d be out taking Lala for a walk and they might be filming a bit and I would see them. But now I’m very conscious of it. Like when I leave my room, I would take the back stairs if they’re anywhere near. I think it’s really important that I maintain this distance and stay in this sort of daddy character. I sometimes see them after they’ve been murdered and booted out, when they come back to do their interviews.

This last lot, Season 2, they all came to New York to do some press thing and we went to my bar. I have club here called Club Cumming in the East Village and they all went there for drinks. I came down towards the end and I was like, “You have received the most votes and are banished from the game!” And then we all went back in and had many more drinks. It was such fun. It’s sort of like seeing your teacher during the school holidays or something. Or when you see your therapist on the street and you’ve never seen them standing up before.

Are you familiar with the contestants’ backgrounds before they come on the show?
No, I’m really not. I’ve never watched those shows. Some come into the cultural zeitgeist, but just a few. Out of this last batch, I only knew three or four. But that show that (“Traitors ” Season 2 contestants) CT and Johnny Bananas were on, “The Challenge?” It’s been on for 20 years, and I’d never heard of it. It’s so ridiculous. It makes me realize that there’s just too much TV.

A version of this story first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the issue here.

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