Cumming to receive Frameline Award
Alan Cumming is a lot of things — actor, writer, director, singer, activist and style maven, just to name a few — but the sometimes flamboyant, always disciplined chameleon never changes one thing: the art of being himself.
The Tony-winning actor, who also has been nominated for Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, will receive Frameline’s highest honor this year before the screening of his new film, “After Louie.” In one of his best performances yet, Cumming plays a 50ish AIDS activist who is perplexed by the happy-go-lucky ways of the Millennial set — until a younger man reignites him:
Q: What was your biggest challenge in finding the character of Sam Cooper? A: Just getting to a place of someone so lost and stuck. I’m not like that at all. And I wanted to make him interesting. He couldn’t be whiny.
Q: What attracted you to the project?
A: I liked that the film dealt with the essential lack of understanding between two generations. I know people like Sam, and I know young people like Braeden (his younger counterpart in the movie). I hadn’t seen this schism handled so eloquently.
Q: Coming in, how did you feel about the generational divide?
A: I understand both points of view. Sometimes the older people can obstruct the younger people from being part of the dialogue. And equally, young people haven’t had to deal with these huge problems and can be flippant in their lack of understanding. The film shows both sides, which makes it really interesting.
I watched it with Armistead Maupin, and he had an intense reaction, because he lived through that time.
Q: The best advice you ever got?
A: Don’t take things so seriously. Don’t overcomplicate things — in life and in work.
Q: You defy easy categorization. How would you describe yourself in a few words?
A: I can only think about when Bette Davis was asked that question, and she said: “I am just too much.”