Summary:
- Alan Cumming, who played Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, has described the 2003 film as the “gayest” movie he’s ever starred in, due to its queer director Bryan Singer and the many queer actors in the cast.
- Cumming shared his thoughts on the film’s representation and its impact on understanding queerness.
Alan Cumming has played some flamboyant roles over his career, but the actor cites 2003’s X2: X-Men United as “the gayest” movie he has ever been a part of.
As the X-Men come back into focus with their MCU introduction already underway, Cumming broke down how the inclusion of several prominent queer stars and its gay director, Bryan Singer, made the movie really important at the time it was released.
Who Starred in X2: X-Men United?
X2: X-Men United saw the return of many of the cast members of 2000’s X-Men, a film that redefined Marvel movies for a generation when comparing it to what came before. The sequel’s stellar cast included Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn, Brian Cox, and Kelly Hu.
Most of the cast would go on to appear in at least one more sequel, with others, such as Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman, continuing to reprise their roles in the MCU many years later, with the former appearing in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and the latter joining Deadpool for his first MCU outing.
Alan Cumming Admits He Knew Nothing About the X-Men
Like many stars joining either Marvel or DC movies, Cumming knew nothing about his character, or even the X-Men, when he was first offered the role of Nightcrawler. However, it did not take much to persuade him to accept the part, even if it did mean having to spend “four hours a day having two men poke my face.”
He explains on his own website: “The character is really interesting, the message of the film (tolerance of others who are different from us) was very timely and unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster, but the real drag was having to spend over four hours a day having two men poke my face.”
“Then there were the harnesses for the tail and for flying, the feet, the hands — which made going to the loo a group effort, the teeth, the lenses, oh God don’t get me started.”
The Impact of X2 on Queer Representation in Mainstream Media
Cumming made an immediate impact in the X-Men sequel, playing Nightcrawler, a role that was both physically demanding and requiring a lot of time in the makeup chair for prosthetic work. The actor shared his thoughts on being part of the ensemble movie, particularly when it came to showing representation in the superhero genre.
He told Entertainment Weekly: “I think the X-Men film I’m in is the gayest film that I’ve ever done, and that’s me saying that. 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.”
He added: “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.”
Conclusion:
While there are many former X-Men stars appearing in this summer’s Deadpool & Wolverine, Cumming’s Nightcrawler is one of the characters who has not been said to be in the movie.
Cumming himself is currently hosting The Traitors, which completed Season 2 in March and has been renewed for Season 3 on Peacock. The legacy of X2: X-Men United remains significant, particularly in how it contributed to queer representation in mainstream media.
