Anniversary Party, The : Interview With Alan Cumming


In a highly unusual marriage of minds, Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh came up with a wild idea for a movie about troubled matrimony. The two major stars got together to make Anniversary Party as co-directors, co-writers and co-producers, not to mention co-habitators.

In Anniversary Party, Cumming and Leigh have cast themselves as bickering Hollywood spouses joined by some guests who are their actual friends in real life.

Cumming, who is also currently starring in Spy Kids (2001) and recently played Cuba's Batista in Company Man (2000), stopped by to weigh the pros and to a lesser extent cons of his innovative style of moviemaking.

He also touched on the perils of going blonde in movies, and how directing his own pals helped him learn to tame his inner diva and quell his nastier side. And though the impish thespian bristled at any insinuation that he may have based drug episodes in Anniversary Party on firsthand experience, he got enthusiastic about describing his more kleptomaniac tendencies, and a unique sexual recipe he and Jennifer perfected to go along with that peculiar hobby.

ALAN CUMMING: Um, can I have one of those candies over there?

Oh, so you're going to suck and talk at the same time? Not good!

Oh well. I'm sure I've done worse things. We can get to that part later, hopefully.

I heard from your Anniversary Party co-director Jennifer Jason Leigh, that you were the one who coached everybody in the cast on how to behave while they're pretending to be under the influence of Ecstasy in the movie. True or false?

That's right.

So how do you know how to behave on Ecstasy?

Hmm. .. I just do. I guess I read a lot, stuff like that. Oh, I see. What do you want from me, to make a drug admission? I don't think so!

Well, the cast did seem to pull it off pretty well. You know, looking really drugged.

The thing I hate most is bad drug acting in films. I think that's horrible. And the whole point of Ecstasy being used as a device in our film, is to make people less inhibited. So therefore certain things can happen between them. And so it changes people's behavior, and relaxes them, stuff like that. And Ecstasy is a relatively new drug, so that a lot of people in the film hadn't known anyone who used it, or hadn't experienced it themselves. So it was important for us to talk about what actually happens when you're on it. And also how capable you are, and in control you are. Actually, I think it's very accurate, you know, the way people are acting on Ecstasy in our film.

What was it like being blonde for Anniversary Party? Did you have more fun?

Oh yeah, I do enjoy it. But my favorite part is when it grows out a bit, and you get the roots coming through. Then you get that slutty look, I like that. But then after that when it goes on a bit and it gets too long, then when they do your roots the old blond goes orange. So you have your blonde bits and your orange bits, and it's time to shave the whole thing off. So I just think it's a short lived experiences. Short lived, but a fabulous experience! But I hated it when I first did it, because I looked like an alien. You know, because I'm so pale. And if I'm wearing a black suit, I look like. .. .a pint of Guinness!

That could be scary. Why did you want to make a movie about the everyday moments of turmoil that go on in a marriage?

I think because Jennifer and I both feel strongly that you see so little proper realistic relationships on film. They're always kind of more sanitized, or cutsey. And the whole thing about life is that you can be screaming at someone, and then a second or two later, you know, be laughing. Or shagging them. That's what life is about, and that's why relationships are hard, because of the extremes. And you just don't see that in movies.

You know, it's hard to have a relationship, and it's hard to exist in this world with another person. Especially in the kind of world that we live in. But that's okay. We should just admit that, and not try to pretend that everything is great all the time. Which is kind of why Jennifer and I use the backdrop of Hollywood in the movie. Because that's the sort of world that everyone has the idea that it's, you know, this plastic, lovely thing. I mean, where everyone is supposed to have nice teeth and nice hair, and is very happy.

And actually, of course, it's a morass of nightmare problems, all that stuff. So Hollywood for us was a good metaphor, I think, for relationships.

Why did you change your accent to play an English rather than a Scottish character in Anniversary Party?

I wanted to avoid people's perceptions of 'Scottishness. ' That was something a little softer than I wanted Joe to have. I wanted him to have a kind of arrogance. You know, a sort of class thing that you wouldn't have gotten if I were Scottish. And it's actually been years since I've played a part with my own voice.

There must be some psychological reason for that! I'm not quite sure what it is.

Well, your accent on TV in Sex In The City was hysterical.

Oh yeah. And I do Americans now more than I used to. So yeah, I've been doing some pretty weird and strange accents.

What did you draw from your own experience to flesh out Anniversary Party?

I don't think the material had to do much with my career as an actor, but more with my life as a person. Like people I know, the relationships I've had, fights I've had and loves I've had. You know what I mean? But this is the happiest set I've ever been on, with such a great atmosphere on the set, because we're all friends. Like at the end of each day, all the cast and crew would stay to have a beer and watch the dailies. You know, everyone was made to feel they were a part of it, and feel involved. And their opinions were valued.

What's it like writing a movie for actors who are your real life friends?

Well, writing for them is really easy. Because Jennifer and I wrote parts for them because we wanted to, and were really interested in them. And we were using essences of them in the roles, which made it fun. Also, when you really know how someone speaks, you can hear them in your head. So you can write for their cadence and their speech patterns, and that was really great. In a way, you're kind of playing with things about them that you know so well, so you can have a lot of fun with that.

And I really enjoy directing people that I know, because you're just so many more steps ahead right from the beginning. You know, part of the whole thing of acting or directing, or any kind of artistic endeavor where there's more than one person, is that you have to be familiar, and have a kind of an understanding and simpatico with them. So when you know the person, you're just that much more up there. You're familiar with them and you understand them, and you have a code with them already. So it just makes everything much easier.

And you can kind of get further and deeper into wherever you want to go. And I've found over the years as an actor, that what makes you most interesting and what people have a connection with, is when you allow more of yourself to come out. And I don't mean that you're the same person in every role. What I mean is that you're prepared to be vulnerable, and have this openness.

And with Anniversary Party, we all had this kind of collective vulnerability. So next I might want to take this further, and make a documentary about my friends in London. Some of them aren't even actors. But I really like the idea of your friends being your new family. You know, sometimes your friends are more like your real family, especially the way we all move around so much these days. And they're the ones who are there for you, and the ones you turn to. Certainly for me, anyway.

How do your friends who aren't actors feel about this documentary you want to make?

They're all terrified, I have to say!

What about the downside of directing your friends?

Well, people think that it would be hard working with friends, because they see it as just a weird, too incestuous thing. But especially with Anniversary Party, I think the actors understood the weight and responsibility that Jennifer and I had as the directors and writers. So they were actually more supportive of us, and more willing and understanding of the fact that we had to get the movie done in nineteen days. So it wasn't like we had to work at getting that kind of support from them.

How does making a movie with friends compare and contrast with the more typical movie set?

Well, you can be on bad sets, even if the work is amazing. But um. .. .the point of this story was. .. .. .. Oh yeah! Even if you love the work you're doing, you can just have a shitty time, because people are unhappy. Now with Anniversary Party, I've discovered that it's so easy to make people feel good on a movie, really. It doesn't take that much. It's just making that effort. And it's also about being aware, and thinking about people other than yourself. It's just an attitude thing. And now I know that it's so much easier to be nasty to people when you are a famous person, and people are scurrying around after you. You know, you can be horrible to lots of people just because you can, and nobody is going to fire you. And it's a matter of character, whether you choose to do that or not. Stuff like that.

But there was none of that on the set of Anniversary Party, because there was no preferential treatment, we were all equals. It's just a different way of doing things, and I actually think it's more successful. Because you realize how many trappings there are with big films, and how that engenders bad behavior.

It sounds like you really perfected a method of keeping that 'diva' at bay.

Well, you do have that diva option. And I don't choose to do that. I mean, I do get shitty when I think there's a reason to be shitty. But I don't just choose to be nasty to someone because I can.

After the high of making a movie like Anniversary Party, would you want to go back to the old system?

I want to keep doing things that I care about. But sometimes it's nice to do something just for a laugh. You know, just to do something to be stupid and silly. Or doing a movie like Spy Kids (2001), which I thought was beautiful, and like a magical thing. So I was really happy to be a part of that.

Yes, Spy Kids (2001) was a big studio movie, and I got paid a lot of money for that. But I would have done it if it were a small independent film too.

What turns you off most about Hollywood movies?

If you play a big character, everywhere you go you're that person. I hate that you become only that person. Like that becomes your life. And then you have to live in Los Angeles! And I hate that whole invasion of your life. Sometimes you get fed up with being pointed at, and poked at. Like people feel they can shout at you on the street. It's hard work to have to smile and chat when you don't want to. If I had to do that all the time, I'd be a thousand times worse than I am now.

People shout at you on the street?

Oh yeah. Like the other day, right after I was on a TV program, people on the street were going, 'I SAW YOU!' Then other people turn around and start looking at you and talking. That's not my favorite thing.

So how do you deal with that kind of attention on the street?

Oh, I just ignore it. Or I wear a hat. If they start going, 'IT'S HIM! LOOK, IT'S HIM!', I'm like, oh shut up, I just want to go buy a pack of cigarettes. So I wear a hat. And keep my head down.

What will you be up to next?

Anything that doesn't involve taking my clothes off.

Okay. .. .When you wrap up a movie, how do you deal with that separation anxiety?

I don't really get sentimental about that, because I think, well duh, Alan! You knew it was finishing. So I'm quite Zen-ish about all that. But I keep things.

Keep things?

Well, I steal things from the set, to remind me of everything.

What do you steal?

Well, with Anniversary Party I didn't have to steal much because we were the writers and directors, so we got to keep things ourselves. But I kept some of the paintings. And furniture. Like those little rugs and cushions are in my apartment. It's quite funny when people come around to my flat and go, wasn't that over there in the movie? So yeah, I've got a fair share of. .. .trinkets!

Did you and Jennifer become even closer as a result of making Anniversary Party together?

Oh very much so, yeah. It deepened to a very primal level. We were in each others' company all the time for a lot of last year. So we were really like a married couple.

In what way?

Oh, we were like finishing each others' sentences. And one time we were at this party where there were these ashtrays that we wanted to steal. Jennifer got one, but I couldn't find any. Then we went out on the terrace, and there was one there. But there was a security guard standing there. So I just told her, kiss me! So we started making out wildly. And that made the guard look away, so I could steal the ashtray. So we started getting into stuff like that. When you stop and think about that, it seems really weird. But for us, the kissing was like work.

You mean just another day at the office?

Well, yeah. And even though we thought of it as work, we quite liked it. And I got an ashtray out of it!

Author : FeatsPress