Alan Cumming says his late father’s bullying helped him pick up “good qualities” for becoming an actor.
The Scot, who has starred in Emma and GoldenEye, tells BBC Radio 4 ’s Desert Island Discs, which is on at 11am today, how he and his brother Tom suffered emotionally and physically growing up on the Panmure Estate in Angus, where his dad Alex was head forester.
Cumming, 57, told host Lauren Laverne: “My dad didn’t break my spirit. I feel the qualities you need to deal with an adult who is abusing you, and you are powerless, are good qualities for being an actor. Listening, pretending you’re not feeling what you are feeling, not showing fear.”
Cumming did not have any communication with his father from his 20s until shortly before the filming of the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? nearly 20 years later. Ahead of filming, Cumming found out his dad believed he was not his biological son.
He said: “None of that was true. I had a DNA test then phoned my dad to tell him I was his son.”
His musical choices included Dignity, by Deacon Blue, and I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), by the Proclaimers.
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