RACHEL IDZERDA FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL
In his new book, Not My Father's Son, Alan Cumming discusses his traumatic childhood in which he was physically and emotionally abused by his father. It's at times a heartbreaking read, but the Scottish actor approaches the serious material with his signature wit and spry observation. Here, Cumming – currently starring in Cabaret on Broadway and season six of The Good Wife – shares some of the secrets to his success, including why there's nothing uncool about Crocs
If you spill your own beans, no one else can
One of the things about being famous is that you don't really get classes on that in drama school – you just have to figure your own way through it. Coming up through the British press and then coming to America, it was a bit of a baptism by fire. Over the years various things in my personal life drew attention from trashy newspapers and I realized over time that if you feel comfortable and you don't feel there's anything to hide then it's best not to. Even if you're saying, 'I don't want to discuss that,' in my experience, and to my horror, you still invite speculation and that can be damaging to the people around you. I feel like of the people I know who are famous, I'm very lucky in that my public persona is very much the same as my real self. That's very rare. There are certainly celebrities who say they won't discuss their private life, but I feel like it's sort of a holistic thing. I'm not saying it will work for everyone, but for me the best practice is just to put it out there.
Laughing can be a serious matter
I don't think the ability to laugh at something means you're not taking it seriously. I actually think in a funny way it can mean that you're considering it more and choosing to find the humour in it and maybe taking it more seriously because you're saying it needs or deserves some levity. Even though my book is about some very traumatic things that happened in my life, there is also humour. It's not to mask anything. Being Scottish, dark humour is in our DNA and I do believe that by lightening things, you are giving them less power. In the book I don't ever lighten the experience of my father, but I do lighten my reaction to it and it being a part of my life. It's not about demeaning or sidestepping, it's actually the opposite.
Having a pulpit is a perk of the job
People don't take celebrities seriously – fair enough. There are a lot of celebrities I don't take seriously because they're just stupid. That said, if there are people who are of an intelligent voice and they have a platform, then why shouldn't they use that? We get asked inane questions all the time: opinions about someone's new hair style. Why shouldn't we be asked about important things? I think most of the time when people get annoyed by celebrities giving their opinions and tell them to shut up, it's because they don't agree with what the celebrity is saying. I have very strong opinions about things in the world [Cumming recently advocated for Scottish independence] and one of the best things about being famous is that I have a voice and can change people's minds about things that I think are important.
The concept of cool is a Croc
I don't buy into this idea of things being cool and uncool and worrying about being seen to be enjoying something too much – that some song is too trashy to dance to. I play trashy songs all the time to show people that I'm having a good time and I'm dancing – why don't you? Once people know it's okay, they feel okay to dive in. One of my favourite songs to play at a party is Jessica Simpson doing Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. Everyone knows the words to that song and yet they feel a sense of shame. I don't know why. It's a great song, a great chord structure, it's a builder. I'm all about builders. There are certain things in our culture which we are so happy to mock without experiencing them and I want to smash down those walls. Like Crocs. It's fine for everyone to think they're ugly and to say that. And actually then you put them on and you think, gosh, these are actually quite comfy.
This interview has been condensed and edited by Courtney Shea.