X-Men Star Alan Cumming Calls X2 “The Gayest Film That I’ve Ever Done”

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly for a Pride Month-themed feature, BAFTA- and Tony-winning actor Alan Cumming called X2: X-Men United “the gayest film that I’ve ever done.” He said it perhaps with tongue a little bit in cheek (he followed it up with, basically, “and look who’s saying it!”), but he made a compelling argument for the “queerness” of the X-Men characters — a subtext that has been part of the film franchise and accompanying comics to varying degrees basically since Bryan Singer took them on.

The X-Men have long been used as a metaphor for various marginalized groups, and in the 21st Century, those metaphors tend to be about the LGBTQ+ community. That Singer, a gay director and producer, was tapped to bring the team to life in the first two films, cemented the connection onscreen.

“Oh, I think the X-Men film I’m in is the gayest film that I’ve ever done, and that’s me saying that,” Cumming told EW. “It’s got a queer director, lots of queer actors in it. I love the fact that something so mainstream and so in the comic book world is so queer. I think, in a way, those sorts of films really help people understand queerness, because you can address it in an artistic way, and everyone is less scared of the concept. It’s an allegory about queerness, about people having these great gifts and really great, powerful things that they have to hide to exist. Queer people understand what that’s all about.”

Cumming played Nightcrawler in X2, a character with a kind of rocky history in terms of gay representation. The character is a practicing Catholic, and in some alternate universe takes, he has been depicted as homophobic (this take is not supported in the main-line continuity). In other stories, the character has been read as gay or bisexual himself, possibly inspired by Cumming’s take.

Cumming has been working in Hollywood for decades, and continues to be one of the most celebrated actors of his era. He is currently hosting both The Traitors and Tiny Chef, in addition to making periodic film appearances. In recent years, he has worked on TV projects like Schmigadoon! and Instinct, allowing him to settle into a role and play it over the course of multiple seasons.

You can pick up the new Pride Issue of Entertainment Weekly on the stands now.