Alan Cumming spills on his 'stern castle daddy' persona for 'The Traitors' Season 3
Spoiler alert! We're discussing some details from the first three episodes of "The Traitors" Season 3, so beware.
Lying. Scheming. Backstabbing.
No, we're not talking about a daytime soap opera. We're talking about Season 3 of "The Traitors" (first three episodes now streaming on Peacock, then weekly). "Traitors" is the reality series that invites contestants to a remote Scottish castle for twisted mind games and physical challenges. And it's hosted by none other than the scheming Scot himself, Alan Cumming.
Well, Cumming, 59, isn't quite as devilish in real life. "I am the host, but I'm playing a character of a host, very much so," he says. "I don't even sound like that; I put on a funny accent as well as a look and tone." In real life, "I don't go around quoting Shakespeare all the time, and I certainly don't boss people around. And I'm not so aggressive as this sort of stern castle daddy."
Cumming (and his fabulous fashion choices) are synonymous with the show at this point. He won his first Emmy for hosting the series’ second season after being nominated for his role as Eli Gold on CBS’ 2009-16 legal drama “The Good Wife.” His extra-thick accent, peppered with whispers and quippy quotes at the ready, is half the fun of watching.
In fact, he's "acting a storm more than even I did on 'The Good Wife,' probably."
'Lord of the Flies' with Botox
Cumming is the constant in the U.S. iteration of the British franchise where "faithful" players vie against "traitors" for a cash prize of up to $250,000. The traitors ‒ mostly stars from other reality TV series ‒ gather and pick faithful people to "murder," while the faithful players (and traitors among them) banish people they worry are deceiving them. While a reality show, it exists in a world far from it.
"As it goes on, people get more and more sort of maddened and irrational because they're in this sort of bubble and they think of nothing else," Cumming teases.
The new crop of contestants in Cumming's spooky castle includes Chrishell Stause ("Selling Sunset"), Wells Adams ("Bachelor in Paradise"), Sam Asghari (Britney Spears' ex-husband) and Dorinda Medley ("The Real Housewives of New York City"). And if the initial episodes are any indication, be prepared for as cutthroat a season as ever: "sort of like 'Lord of the Flies' with Botox," Cumming says.
Would Alan Cumming play a traitor or faithful?
This season's original traitors are Bob The Drag Queen ("RuPaul’s Drag Race"), Carolyn Wiger ("Survivor") and Danielle Reyes ("Big Brother"), and "Boston Rob" Mariano ("Survivor") later joins the group.
“There’s fireworks and conflict galore in the turret,” Cumming says, as each of their strong personalities collide.
The first traitors' "kill" this season is Medley, a disappointment for "Real Housewives" fans who revel in her penchant for drama and chaos.
"It's such a departure from the reality that I've done on the 'Housewives,' you know, where you run your own show," she says. "This is completely out of your control, and you really are taken into a new world. And that's it. The knives fall as they may, and you have no control over it, and half the time don't know what's going on, and because they create such the environment of intensity, you're in it."
She "never would have expected" being killed off first, "and dare I say, I think I'm going to be missed because I had a lot of good content I was going to put out there."
If given the chance, Cumming would love to play a traitor himself. That said, after hearing a traitor's rationale later this season, "I would never have thought of any of (that). I wouldn't have had a clue, and I would have just sort of gone with my gut." That's how he approaches his work, too.
His career has spanned all kinds of roles across many genres and mediums, from TV shows like "Good Wife" and "The L Word" to movies ("Spy Kids," "Josie and the Pussycats" and "GoldenEye") and musicals ("Cabaret"). People recognize him for all of the above, but the fan interaction that stands out most is someone telling him "I love your soap," referencing a fragrance he had out at the time. A diversified portfolio indeed.
'It's a really terrifying time'
Cumming's 60th birthday is Jan. 27, with his husband Grant Shaffer's to follow a few months later. He plans to relax in a spa for a few days on his own before planning dance party after dance party after dance party, including at his New York club, aptly called Club Cumming. It's a haven for the LGBTQ+ community, something that clicked for him early in the COVID-19 pandemic when bars went dark and "devastated" patrons.
"It is a community, and it is a space that I feel we've created where it's absolutely about kindness, and people of all sorts can come together and feel not judged and feel protected. And we are going to need those spaces more and more and more, I fear, in the next four years," he says, referring to the reelection of Donald Trump as president.
As flamboyant and fun as he is on "Traitors" and in life, Cumming knows what's at stake.
"It's a really terrifying time," he adds of concerns about Trump's impact on queer and especially transgender rights. "So even in the sort of bubble of liberal New York, people are scared, and I'm myself wondering how long it will be before I feel uncomfortable."