It's hard to imagine someone other than Alan Cumming playing all the roles in "Macbeth," earning multiple Emmy nods for "The Good Wife" and starring in the current Broadway revival of "Cabaret," but as he tells it, he could have left fame behind 10 years ago -- and possibly never gotten the chance to take on those roles.
When Cumming sat down with the web series #OWNSHOW, he opened up about his mindset in the various decades of his life, including the time when he felt ready to walk away from public eye. That attitude stands in stark contrast with Cumming's mindset in his 30s, which is when he says he was eager to emerge as an actor and make a name for himself.
"Just before I was 30, I got divorced, and so I've had this kind of bad -- really bad -- time and breakdown," he says. "So, when I was 30, I was kind of like, 'Okay, I'm ready. I'm all sorted out now. I've made some changes.'"
During that decade, Cumming won multiple awards for his theater work, including a Tony, and starred in films alongside the likes of Tom Cruise ("Eyes Wide Shut") and Gwyneth Paltrow ("Emma"). His career was a great success, but when the actor turned 40, he began to rethink his chosen path.
"My big sad thing when I was 40 was that I was like, 'I don't want to be famous anymore,'" he admits. "That was my little flip at 40."
Cumming, of course, chose not to leave acting behind. Now 50 years old, he explains why this latest decade is truly something special.
"At 50, I just actually feel really great," he says. "It's a great age because… I'm still as active in life as I've ever been, but I also feel I have wisdom because I've had all these experiences. I really like that combo."
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