Alan Cumming on why he likes 'queer' and how he intends to break down boundaries with his new podcast

• The Scottish actor Alan Cumming, known for "Cabaret" and "X-Men," is to co-host the LGBT+ podcast Homo Sapiens this May

• He says being "curious about people" led him to the project

• He believes the strength of podcasting derives from not needing to look at screens.

• The actor hopes to break stigmas around topics like sex and gender conformity.

• He has won over 40 humanitarian awards for his LGBT+ activism

• He prefers the term queer if he is to use any label because it's "not just about what you do with your genitals."

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Alan Cumming is upfront about discussing sex. In fact, for some, his reputation for tackling stigmas transcends his reputation as a film and TV star. When not playing a lead in "X-Men" or a Bond baddie in "GoldenEye," the Scottish actor is an award-winning LGBT+ rights campaigner, passionate about using his surname in a light and comedic way to smash stigmas around sex and queer culture. Cumming also takes on prolific queer roles, like in the CBS show "Instinct" where he played the first-ever gay lead in an American drama.

Backstage at London's Old Vic theatre, where Cumming was starring opposite Daniel Radcliffe in existential Beckett play "Endgame," a towel is embossed with 'Club Cumming' after the star's naughtily-named New York bar and cabaret. It's carefully folded by the shower (On his website, Alan's fragrance 'Cumming' is advertised alongside a video of the actor seductively undressing with a hook-up).

Reclining on a narrow single bed half tucked under his dressing room table, Cumming seems more like he's about to hang out with close friends than conduct an interview, but he extends me a warm welcome. He's excitable as he scrolls through Meghan Markle news on his phone; his candor is to set the tone for the rest of the interview. We're meeting to talk about Cumming's new role as a guest presenter for the LGBT+ podcast Homo Sapiens, a role which seems a glove fit for Cumming's warm and chatty personality.

Periodically shouting at the speaker when it doesn't stop playing - "Alexa, f-ck you!" - Cumming is an addictive, heady mix of acerbic and approachable. Keen to approach Homo Sapiens with lashings of his own brand of LGBT+ activism, Cumming tackles serious subjects by offering comedy, intellect and a friendly ear.

"I'm a chatty Cathy," he says, reclining further on the bed. His accent is still thickly Scottish despite years of Stateside living. The only giveaway that I'm in the company of a Hollywood actor is the expensive-looking reusable water bottle Alan's rhythmically shaking back and forth. "It's got a thing that goes through it, not infrared, the other thing? UV!" he explains, humanizing the bougie product with a big dollop of on-brand affability. "It cleans the water so you can have sh-tty old water and you shake it and it's clean."

"I'm curious about people," he continues, shaking the bottle from side to side. "I'm also good at disarming them, getting them to be open and vulnerable by just making them comfortable. I'm also good at letting people let go. When I DJ at Club Cumming I show people that I'm not going to judge you — I'm going to be jumping around and making a fool of myself."

And in 2020, podcasts have become Cumming's digital club room. "I think it's interesting to think about the difference between podcasts and the whole digital world; most of that's about looking at a screen and engaging just with a screen rather than listening. With podcasts, it's actually a more passive thing, you can actually be in the world and be doing stuff, or just listen on your phone."

Cumming may be good at disarming his guests, but he and co-host Chris Sweeney, a filmmaker who's also in the room, are keen to assert they aren't journalists. "I want it to feel like you're just having a chat with us," Cumming says. "I want it to feel like you're coming to my house, or I'm having a party in my apartment. This is an extension of that."

He dislikes the highly pressurized style of most TV show interviewers although he commends "that British boy" James Corden's approach. "It's so liberating to see people not just vomiting out their hilarious anecdotes. It's such a broken model I think."

Episodes in the fourth season of Homo Sapiens, launching this May, will respond to some of the current discussions prevalent within LGBT+ culture. They include the deconstruction of gender, the continued platforming of diverse voices, and the destigmatizing of conversations around sex, particularly anal sex.

Patti Smith and Stephen Fry are both guests in the new season which has a theme of icons, "but icons doesn't necessarily mean an older person," clarifies Cumming. One millennial interviewee is the burgeoning playwright Jeremy O'Harris. "He goes to an old folks home on a Monday night and plays bingo with all the old people and takes, what are those dogs everyone doesn't like because they're so scary? Massive head? Pitbulls. He takes pitbulls home and smothers them with love and tries to train them. And he always talks about trans issues, whenever there's an attack or a murder he's all over that. I think it's just about people who make a difference. And also he's fabulous."

"He speaks about being a black queer body and how objectified you are," adds Chris Sweeney. "People will happily message you on an app going, 'I like black dudes.' It's like, what?" Alan acknowledges that both he and Chris are white males tackling issues around diversity, saying the podcast could be a venue for anyone to "find out more about queer black culture" or other subjects explored with each guest.

Which guests would epitomize their message of inclusion and acceptance? "Let's get Harry!" Cumming bursts out seconds after Sweeney had noted how the former One Direction star Harry Styles has become an icon for people who feel different. He has been going out in public wearing both male and female clothes, and has refused to say whether or not he is gay, straight or somewhere inbetween.

Sweeney agrees with Styles that definitions are blurring. "I think it's also making sex sexier again," Cumming asserts. "Just kind of finding out what your desires are. Your desires, for me anyway, your sexuality and your desires change. It's never black and white.

Pansexuality is the latest sexual movement rapidly gaining pace. The label refers to people who prioritize the individual, regardless of their gender. "I think that's great but it's another fucking label, do you know what I mean?" says Alan. "I just feel like I like queer because queer is not just about what you do to your genitals."

And that may be Homo Sapiens' mission statement. To humanize queer issues and queer people, and ultimately to unite LGBT+ communities through the power of the podcast.

Cumming's fans will have plenty of 'brand Cumming' moments to treasure as episodes are delightfully peppered with his trademark declarations of sex positivity. I'm offered one myself when the interview wraps and I mention I'm looking forward for the forthcoming James Bond film "No Time To Die," and that as a member of the LGBT+ community I've always wondered why I adore the series so much when Fleming declared that it was for heterosexual men.

Cumming's ears prick up. "James Bond? That's about a real sexy powerful man who does everything," he quips excitedly. "He's like Superman: he can kick butts, he can kill people, he's clever, he's funny, he's witty and he'd be a great f-ck!"