Cumming accuses media of keeping gay actors in the closet

Actor Alan Cumming has accused the media of keeping gay actors in the closet, and portraying homosexuality as controversial.

In an interview with the BBC, the 43-year-old, who starred in The Bacchae at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2007, has accused the media's attitude towards homosexuality of preventing other gay actors from coming out.

Cumming said: "I don't think the people that go see films care that much - the media make it more of a deal and it's made into controversy."

A growing number of gay actors—such as Rupert Everett and Stephen Fry—have complained that the media pigeonholes gay actors. Cumming, who recently 'married' his partner Grant Shaffer, does not agree.

"Some of them do, but lots of straight actors get pigeonholed in various roles," he said.

"I'm quite outspoken in the media about what I perceive as a civil rights struggle that gay people in America are still going through.

"But I don't think that I only play gay characters, or I wouldn't be as convincing if I had a wife or a girlfriend in a movie."

Derek Munn from UK-based gay rights group Stonewall said: "Stonewall has long been concerned about the representation of lesbian and gay people, both in the film industry and the media in general.

"The pitifully low number of openly lesbian or gay actors suggests that there is a problem. The film industry needs to think about why it is that gay actors choose not to come out."

Cumming, who is originally from Scotland, now divides his time between commissions in the US and the UK. As well as his theatre work, he has starred in a number of Hollywood movies.