Actor Alan Cumming says being Scottish is the reason for ‘much of my success'

Irish Independent

28-04-2025

The 60-year-old said growing up in Scotland gave him the opportunity to attend drama school for free and he believed it was responsible for making him fair-minded.
He told singer Lulu on her Turning Points podcast: 'I am an actor because the values I have are completely about Scotland, fairness, thinking there should be a safety net, the kindness that I have is because I was brought up with it.
'I went to drama school and Scotland, my mum and dad's taxes, paid for that, it was completely free, I got a grant and everything.
'Then I started off in subsidised theatres, you know, acting and things like that.
'So when you think about, if that was in America, I would never be an actor, my mum and dad would never be able to afford to send me.
'So I really think that so much of my success is to do with where I was from and both in those terms about education but also in the values that I have as a person, as an artist.'
He said Scottish people were 'slightly persecuted', leading to them growing up with 'a little bit of an inferiority complex'.
Cumming stars in Marvel films such as Nightcrawler, a role he will reprise in next year's Avengers Doomsday.
The actor has also appeared in 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, 2000's Get Carter and 1999's Eyes Wide Shut.
He was also a guest star in the first season of US drama The Good Wife, playing PR guru Eli Gold, before appearing in the series until it ended in 2015 with its seventh season.
During his time on the programme, he was nominated for three Emmys and two Golden Globes.
The full interview on Turning Points can be streamed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.