Alan Cumming is one of the most vocal bisexual actors in the entertainment scene. He has never denied his sexuality and even played the first openly gay lead on a network drama, CBS’s Instinct. So, in celebration of Pride Month, the Tony-winning actor looks back at some of his most iconic projects and surprisingly reveals that the 2003 X2: X-Men United is “the gayest film” he has ever done.
Cumming graced Entertainment Weekly’s LGBTQ+ Pride cover and took a walk down memory lane as he reflected on his four decades of colorful career. Sure, he has a lot to his name, working on several hit TV series and movies and receiving numerous accolades, but he sees X2 as the gayest movie he has been in and makes a compelling argument about it.
“Oh, I think the X-Men film I'm in is the gayest film that I've ever done, and that's me saying that,” he said. “It's got a queer director, lots of queer actors in it.”
For those who don’t know, X2 director Bryan Singer came out as bisexual in 2014. Ian McKellen, who played the role of Magneto, also came out as gay in 1988 in his appearance on the BBC Radio program Third Ear. With this representation, Cumming loved how “something so mainstream” and even part of the comic book world was so queer.
“I think, in a way, those sorts of films really help people understand queerness because you can address it in an artistic way, and everyone is less scared of the concept,” he explained. “It's an allegory about queerness, about people having these great gifts and really great, powerful things that they have to hide to exist. Queer people understand what that's all about.”
Cumming played Nightcrawler in X2. The character is known for practicing priesthood, but he has left the clergy to join the X-Men. He, too, is known for being homophobic, teleporting immediately after learning Colossus is gay in Ultimate X-Men #65. However, in other stories, he has been seen as gay, possibly inspired by Cumming’s take on the character.
Alan Cumming Finds X-Men’s Nightcrawler Interesting
On his official website, Cumming talked about X2 and his first immortalized role as Nightcrawler. He admitted that he had never heard of the X-Men until he met Singer to discuss the film. He, too, had no idea who Nightcrawler was, but he found his character interesting and the film’s message timely, though unusual.
“The character is really interesting, the message of the film (tolerance of others who are different from us) was very timely and unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster,” he wrote.
However, if there was one downside to making the superhero movie, it was spending over four hours creating his makeup. It also included wearing harnesses for his tail and flying. For him, it was all a group effort.
“The teeth, the lenses, oh God, don’t get me started,” he continued.
Sadly, despite Cumming’s great portrayal of Nightcrawler, he only played the character once and never returned for the sequel. Despite that, nobody will forget how he brought the demonic-looking mutant to life.
