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The Drum catches up with the Scottish actor on the Clio Awards in New York.
Alan Cumming has constructed a occupation on status out, however he’s additionally spent a long time serving to manufacturers do the similar. When The Drum stuck up with him on the Clio Awards in New York, which he used to be internet hosting simply two days after presenting at Baftas, he used to be reflecting on what it in reality takes for entrepreneurs to get the most efficient out of ability. Whether operating with celebrities, creatives or influencers, he believes the secret’s the similar: “Collaborate,” he says. “Talk to them. Ask what they can contribute. Don’t just hire someone with a voice, then ignore it.”
It’s recommendation drawn from enjoy. Cumming has starred in – and contributed to shaping – one of the extra unique emblem campaigns of the previous 20 years, together with a 1950s-style musical advert for Trojan Ecstasy condoms, which he co-wrote and directed with buddy Ned Stresen-Reuter. “They told us the condom was shaped like a baseball bat,” he laughs. “We thought, right, it needs pizzazz. So we gave it a musical number. Ricki Lake came and played with me and we shot it at The Box in New York. It was a hoot.”
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More just lately, he starred in a marketing campaign for Virgin Atlantic’s new Upper Class living room at LAX. He says it used to be a fashion instance of ways celebrities and types will have to collaborate. “I played a version of myself – a bit grand, a bit theatrical – and they completely got it. They let me be me. The result was stylish, witty and didn’t talk down to anyone, not even me.”
That sense of inventive freedom, he says, is ceaselessly what makes the adaptation between a memorable collaboration and a forgettable one. “People work really hard to get someone on board and then they just want them to slot into something pre-set. But the reason they approached them in the first place is probably because they’re individual, idiosyncratic – and that’s what should make the campaign work.”
Cumming speaks with authority. Alongside his paintings in theater, movie and TV – from Cabaret to The Good Wife, Spy Kids to X2 – he’s additionally introduced and advertised his personal merchandise. In 2005, he launched an award-winning perfume known as Cumming, adopted by way of a line of scented creams and frame wash. In 2011, he introduced a 2d smell, second Cumming, with all proceeds going to charity. These weren’t simply famous person licensing offers – they had been emblem extensions with a humorousness.
“I think most people who’ve got some sort of personality and following in the world have got some sense of their own style,” he says.
That viewpoint used to be by no means clearer than in his function as host of The Traitors, Peacock’s murder-mystery-meets-reality-TV breakout hit. What will have been a typical festival display used to be reworked by way of Cumming’s efficiency: he didn’t simply provide the display, he reshaped it. The structure could also be authorized international, however most effective the USA model has Cumming’s maximalist fingerprint far and wide it.
Week after week, he arrived in an increasing number of extravagant outfits – full-length tartan gloves, capes, berets, brooches – and delivered his strains with one of those theatrical glee that became even removing ceremonies into efficiency artwork. “As you go through life, different sides of your personality come out,” he says. “10 years ago, I might have played it more neurotic. Now it’s grand and flamboyant.”
There is undoubtedly reinvention is a part of his character. “When you stop being curious, you die. Most creativity is connected to people who are curious about stuff other than themselves.”
He for sure conjures up his contestants, who began dressing louder to maintain. The target audience? Obsessed. The end result? A display with quick visible reputation and a definite tone – each uncommon commodities within the actuality area.
At the Clios, he channeled the similar power, dressed in what he known as a “tartan concision” by way of Charles Jeffrey Loverboy – phase kilt, phase trousers. “For once,” he informed the group, lifting the hem fairly, “I don’t have to worry about what I’m wearing underneath.”
Ultimately, Cumming sees no pressure between tradition and trade – most effective neglected alternatives after they fail to paintings in combination. “The arts have always relied on patrons. If no one pays for it, no one sees it. So if you can find the right way to merge the two, that’s where creativity thrives.”
For entrepreneurs navigating the ability economic system – influencers, partnerships, personality-led campaigns – Cumming’s message is each transparent and hard earned: if you need the magic, don’t muzzle the magician.
