Having spoken to Alan Cumming about “The Traitors” multiple times, we’re happy to report he seems more excited about the breakout Peacock series than ever. Perhaps it’s earning an Emmy nomination for hosting the series or maybe he’s still giddy over what occurs during the recently filmed season three. Or, maybe, as he notes, he loves the idea that the show is about “the idea we have to lie.”
Cumming, who earned his fifth Emmy nomination for his celebrated “Traitors” gig, notes that on other reality competition programs, contestants often have to betray each other and do things that are “skeevy” to succeed. But on “The Traitors,” it’s “basically just lying.” And, as he opines, “We all lie all the time, every single day we lie about things, little ones usually. But I think what’s great is we never get to really watch people who have to lie.”
Sometimes, even this Tony and Olivier Award-winning actor can’t control himself as he reacts to the “Traitors” and “Faithfuls” playing mind games with each other.
“I mean in this past season, it’s about to come out, was one of the first times that they said to me in my ear, ‘Alan, your face your face, be careful. Be careful.’ Because I was so shocked at the boldness of this character overacting and just giving so much drama at the round table when it was revealed, who is banished,” Cumming teases. “I couldn’t stop myself. I’m usually quite good at poker face, but I was just like my chin was on the floor. And because I just thought that if I did that, that’d be too much. So, I think it’s about that. It’s about seeing people having to lie in a scenario where they’ve got to cover up their lying. And I just think that’s gets compulsive the way that you see people enjoying seeing a side of human nature that is maybe not so nice.”
Over the rest of our conversation, Cumming reveals what he thinks is the appeal of the competition, whether these grown adults take the results of the game too seriously, ponder whether Peacock needs to release an “Alan Cumming Reaction Reel” at the end of each season, and much more.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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The Playlist: First of all, congratulations on your Emmy nominations.
Alan Cumming: Thank you.
What was your reaction to getting the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program nomination? Were you expecting it? Were you surprised?
I mean, it had been mooted, but these things are so crazy because there’s a campaign and you’re aware of it and you’re doing interviews not just doing them because it’s your favorite thing, but still, even when it happens and you hope it’s going to happen, it’s still a really big deal. That’s the thing about it all. It’s such a sort of huge thing. The funny thing was I found out when I was doing an interview on Radio Scotland, and so I took the call on air. It was my agent and manager telling me, so it was kind of a hilarious way to find out and I really, but I thought, “Oh my God, I’m going to take this call right now.” And then I forgot they were on the radio as well because I put the speaker on. But it was great. And just I’m so grateful that the show is being so sort of embraced. It’s such a big out-there thing. It’s great that everybody’s got it and really is into it. That’s the best thing.
Since the last time we spoke, season two has now aired actually in the UK because there’s a little delay with its broadcaster, the BBC. Have you gotten any feedback on it since you’ve been back in Scotland? Have people told you what they thought about the second season compared to the first?
Yeah, I mean, people love it. I think people really enjoy the fact that we’ve gone the whole hog with having all celebrities, and I think the second season felt much more that we hit our stride. And when you do something for the first time, everyone’s a bit nervous and it’s all new and you’re trying out things. And I think the things that they were more nervous about were the bigger things, the more dramatic things, the more sort of flamboyant things, the way I looked or the way the show felt. And actually of course, what became apparent and what we were able to lean into in the second season is that those very things are the things that people like most and want most, the theatricality and the camp of it and the sort of drama. So it was nice to feel that, that people were hungry for that and they appreciated it.
I wanted to follow up on that because John Bercow, the former speaker of Parliament, was unknown to most viewers on this side of the Atlantic because most Americans don’t pay enough attention to world politics. But in the UK it must’ve been a big deal for him to be on the season. Was the reaction what you thought it would be?
I think actually the reaction was [stronger] at the prospect of him doing it. It was big news when we were [shooting] it a year ago, and it was talked about a lot when I would do interviews in Britain for other things I was promoting. But, once the show started, everybody kind of got sucked into the drama of the show and he was just this person within the group. And I think that’s the power of the show. It’s so potent that even you sort of suspend your disbelief in a way. And it was much more about the prospect of them being in it.
And in season three, a legit member of the Royal Family, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, is in the cast. Have you been getting a lot of questions when you’ve been back in the UK about that as well?
No, I think when things ramp up again probably, but, again, it was announced right when we were shooting and that’s when there was a surge in [interest]. But I was very much in the bubble of the show at the time. So, I think people get it, and I think that we’ve got this thing that there’s always sort of one or two random left-field English or British people in the show. And I think people like that. I just think it makes for a very interesting, diverse sort of lineup.
You participated in a lot of Emmy campaigning for season one, but it was obvious everyone involved did a lot more for season two. You also attended several events with Television Academy members and the industry. What do you think makes the show so popular, especially with people in Hollywood? Do they just love it as a distraction? Do they love the strategy or is it just the drama?
I think it’s a variety of things. I think that it’s got such high production values that that immediately sort of separates it from other shows. And it’s got a sense of theater and structure and, what’s that word? It’s got sort of a great process [in] the structure of each episode, but also within games it uses theater. Kind of like a well-made play. All those things, great contestants, and I’ve got this sort of very much this Pied Piper sort of dramatic thing [going on]. But really, I think it’s about human nature, about the idea that we all have to lie. And the thing is, in other shows, people have to betray each other and do things and be skeevy. But in this, it’s just basically lying. And we all lie all the time, every single day we lie about things, little ones usually. But I think what’s great is we never get to really watch people who have to lie. And that’s my theory. I’m obsessed with the notion of how good someone is at lying. And also by association acting. I mean in this past season it’s about to come out. It was one of the first times that they said to me in my ear, “Alan, your face your face, be careful. Be careful.” Because I was so shocked at the boldness of this character overacting and just giving so much drama at the round table when it was revealed who is banished. I couldn’t stop myself. I’m usually quite good at poker face, but I was just like my chin was on the floor. And because I just thought that if I did that, that’d be too much. So, I think it’s about that. It’s about seeing people having to lie in a scenario where they’ve got to cover up their lying. And I just think that’s gets compulsive the way that you see people enjoying seeing a side of human nature that is maybe not so nice.
I would guess we should be excited for you if three seasons in you are still being gobsmacked, shocked, and enjoying the process. That means there has to be a long shelf life for this show.
I hope so. I really do love it. And I think as well from these three seasons that we’ve shot, they’ve been so different in terms of how they’ve turned out. And even though the structure’s the same pretty much there are some more twists, turns, and things in this later season, but, y’know, it’s me in a castle. They come here day, they do a mission and then we round it. But it’s actually sort of spiraled into different ways. And I think that’s interesting to me. I mean, I’m not an expert in this field by any means, but one of the things I’ve been really happy about is that there has been a myth that has been sort of unfounded or busted. This idea that people who [participated] in the more gamey shows are better at it or have an advantage. And that is not the truth. That’s actually becoming more apparent. Some of them are good, but actually, this is a different kind of game. You may have strategy skills, but there are other things that could just shoot you in the foot. It has its own particular quality to it, and anyone could be killed any second and anyone could be a winner, I think. And also interesting how those who start strong maybe they don’t have enough energy to go the way through. It’s got its own sort of inherent narrative that I think is incredibly different from any show. And that’s why hopefully it will keep going. And I think we’ve got really colorful characters that are known from other things, and that helps too. They come with history and they come with their own shtick and I think it reminds me of “Psycho.”In the first reel of “Psycho,” Janet Leigh gets murdered, right? And the whole thing with the marketing campaign for “Psycho” was don’t tell. I think there’s a similar thing sometimes in “The Traitors” that you think when you see the advertising, “Oh, blah, blah, my favorite person,” and they’re blooming dead in the first episode.
You did touch on a topic that I was going to ask you about. I’m not looking for any spoilers regarding the third season, but having now experienced three seasons, do you contestants can go into this game trying to be too strategic? Is that a potential fault for some players?
I think it is. I think people overthink it and I think, well, this next season is brilliant in that respect. Obviously, it’s good to have a strategy. It’s good to have certain things, but sometimes when you’re thinking about your strategy, you’ve got to be like an animal sensing what’s going on in this game. And I think sometimes people overlook that because they’re so, I mean, this season just shut up. There were times when I was like, “For f**k’s sake, you stupid people. It is clearly this person!” Yet they were won over by certain things and overlooked certain things and we’re, that’s what I think is great to me. It’s a fascinating psychological sociological experiment in a kind of pack mentality. It gets a bit “Lord of the Flies” at times, do you know what I mean? Someone killed the pig. And that to me is interesting because even when they know that’s a possibility, they still do it. It’s sort of primal. And I love that about it. It also infuriates me when I just think, “Oh, come on.” And that’s another time when I got into trouble. I rolled my eyes when we were at the round table. Where I stand at the round table, there are a couple of people whose I can see what they’re writing because I’m behind them. And so it is a very tense, very tense moment. Tears, everything like that. And there’s someone to my right over here who wrote down a name, and I just couldn’t help myself. I’m normally very good at poker and I just heard, “Alan, your face, you rolled your eyes, you rolled your eyes. Be careful, be careful.” That’s my whole thing. I sort of pride myself on being able to, not gasp, but I’m only human now and again if they do something so stupid or so incredible in the finales when they’ve said they’ve betrayed people or something, I can’t help it.
I am hoping though that if they at least cut that out of the edit, at the end of the season after everything’s revealed, we can get a blooper reel or an Alan reaction reel.
That would be hilarious.
The last thing I was going to ask you is are you surprised by how many of these adults still take what happens during the game so personally months afterward?
Yes, I’m shocked. I mean this is one of the things we talked about between season two and season three, that trust no one. Remember this game is called “The Traitors.” But that’s the power of it. They’re all drawn into this bubble and they lose their minds. They become maddened and all they have to think about is the game. And so therefore they’re not incredibly entirely rational. And of course that’s the magic of the game and that’s what makes it so fun. But afterward, in the reunions like MJ [Javid] in the last one, it was actually John Bercow who said to her, “Come on MJ, it’s a game. It’s called ‘The Traitors.’ You’ve got to get over it.” I thought, “F**k somebody’s saying the truth.” I think that to me was shocking. But I mean, oh my God, it’s a game. And the game is to be, you’ve got to do traitorous things. I suppose that shows the power of not just the game, but the production design and the actual experiential thing of being in that castle and playing with those people and all the stuff around them they lose sight of it being a game. And they take it really personally and I love it when people say, “I trust you. I know you are not a Traitor.” You think, “How do you know the only reason they are not the Traitor is that I didn’t tap them on the shoulder?” Let’s never forget that. I want to say those things more often, but I’m not allowed.
Well, again, the blooper reels, the additional footage in the extra episode. We need it.
Me laughing at Housewives getting wet. That’s my other favorite thing. I just appall at the prospect of a Housewife falling into the lake. [Laughs.]
“Traitors” season one and season two are available on Peacock.