Alan Cumming, 59: ‘We Overly Worship the Altar of Youth’

Video: Alan Cumming Is Aging Gracefully on His Own Terms Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Alan Cumming will be turning 60 very soon — Jan. 27, if you'd like to wish him a happy birthday — and he’s in no way freaked out by it. In fact, he’s excited for what comes next. “There's no

point in fighting it,” he says of aging. “I would rather do it gracefully and on my terms, rather than have other people tell me what to do and what to wear and how I should behave.” 

The Scottish star of stage and screen has a busy year ahead. On Jan. 11, he’ll be hosting the annual AARP Movies for Grownups Awards in Beverly Hills (the show will be televised by Great

Performances on Feb. 23 on PBS). And on Jan. 9, he returns as host of The Traitors, where reality veterans and regular people face off in a battle of wits and scheming. (All three seasons

will stream on Peacock.)

We sat down with Cumming to talk about life after 60, his outlandish Traitors wardrobe, and why we should all stop worshipping at the altar of youth.

which streams exclusively on Peacock. Euan Cherry/Peacock

You’re hosting the Movies for Grownups Awards for the fourth time in January. What resonates with you about this show and its mission?

It’s a really fun evening. There isn’t the same pressure of other award ceremonies. It's also fun for me (as a host) because you go into the audience and sort of terrorize them a little bit.

I guess that's my favorite part of the whole thing.

The Traitors is coming back for its third season. At this point, do you meet the new roster of contestants and instantly know who’s winning?

I usually don't know who they are, because I'm not a very avid television watcher, certainly not reality shows, and the bulk of players have come from those types of shows. I quite like that

I'm kind of green and out of the loop, because then I meet them on their own terms. The people you think are going to do really well because they've got a very strong personality or they're

devious, it never works out that they do. The game confounds the normal expectation.

The show is basically about backstabbing. Why are we so entertained by other people behaving badly?

It's because they've got to behave badly. They've got no choice. That's the whole point. They have to kill people and they have to lie. It's a really great thing for us on a sociological

level, to watch other people lying when they have to lie. I think that's part of what makes it so exciting. You see how good or bad people are at being deceitful.