Alan Cumming Speaks Out for Scottish Independence

Stage and screen star Alan Cumming, who is currently starring in Broadway's Cabaret, recently took a brief break from the show to campaign for a cause he has always been vocal about- Scottish independence. In today's New York Times, Cumming speaks out in his own op-ed about the issue. He writes:

There has never been anything so politically important to me. I enthusiastically became an American citizen because I wanted to vote in elections here, but even that pales in comparison to my passion for Scotland's voting to control its own future. Only residents can vote in this referendum, but I could campaign.

I wasn't the only one who felt compelled to speak. Last weekend, Queen Elizabeth II admonished Scots to "think very carefully" about the decision we have to make.

Did you think we needed telling, ma'am?

This is unfortunately emblematic: Scots feel they've been patronized and disrespected for far too long, not just by the monarchy, but by other institutions like the BBC and the Westminster government.

This is not about hating the English. It is about democracy and self-determination. Scotland is weary of being ruled by governments it did not vote for. The Conservative Party has virtually no democratic mandate in Scotland, yet too often, Scotland has been ruled by a draconian Tory government from London.

Click here to read his full article.

Cumming made his professional acting debut as Malcolm in Michael Boyd's production ofMacbeth at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow in 1985. 28 years later he played nearly all the parts in the National Theatre of Scotland's sensational re-imagining of the Scottish play on Broadway, earning him the Broadwayworld.com Best Actor Awards and a Drama League Performance of Distinction Nomination. After working extensively in the Scottish theatre, he made his West End debut in Conquest of the South Pole, which earned him his first Olivier award nomination. He appeared with the RSC, played Romeo for the RNT Studio and earned further Olivier nominations for La Bête and Cabaret. His career-defining Hamlet for the English Touring Theatre earned him huge critical acclaim, a TMA Best Actor award and Shakespeare Globe nomination. He won an Olivier for Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Royal National Theatre.

In 1998 he made his sensational Broadway debut when Cabaret transferred to NYC, winning him the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Theatre World, NY Press, FANY and Public Advocate awards. He went on to appear on Broadway in Design for Living and as Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera. Off-Broadway he appeared as the Pope in Jean Genet's Elle (which he also adapted) and as Trigorin in The Seagull opposite Dianne Wiest. In 2006, he returned to the West End in Martin Sherman's Bent, and in 2007 appeared in the National Theatre of Scotland's The Bacchae, directed by John Tiffany (Herald ArcAngel Award).

On TV he currently appears as Eli Gold in "The Good Wife" for which he has been nominated for Emmy, SAG, Satellite and Critics Circle awards. He also appears opposite Lisa Kudrow in Showtime's "Web Therapy" and is the host of "Masterpiece Mystery" on PBS. His eclectic film career has seen him work consecutively with Stanley Kubrick and the Spice Girls, and make appearances in the X Men, Spy Kids, Flintstones and Smurfs franchises as well as roles in many independent films such as Sweet Land (Independent Spirit Award), Julie Taymor's Titus and The Tempest and most recently Travis Fine's Any Day Now for which he received several Best Actor awards on the film festival circuit.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos