Alan Cumming: Filming hit TV show 'Tip Toe' was 'difficult and intense'

The acclaimed Russell T Davies drama on Channel 4 tells the story of Leo Struthers, an LGBT+ bar owner who gets caught up in a spiralling neighbour feud with drastic consequences.

It has garnered critical acclaim, but Cumming said that while he “loved” filming it, he was “longing” to let the character go.

“It was such an incredible thing to do and I’m so glad it’s had a big impact and caused so much conversation,” he said.

“That’s why we wanted to do it.

“There were lovely people making it, but it was so difficult and so intense to do.

“I remember as we got towards the end thinking ‘I’ve loved, loved this’, but I’ve never remembered longing to not be this and just let this person go.

“What I was carrying with him was just so intense and I’ve never felt that before, and it’s weird because I loved the people and the experience of making it, but actually him, I wanted to be away from him.”

He made the comments during an in conversation event with Hollywood actor Ewan McGregor at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, where he is now the artistic director.

An audience member asked the pair if there were any roles that had pushed them to their limits when Cumming recounted his experience of playing Leo Struthers.

However he said performing Macbeth on stage also proved to be a challenging experience.

“I did this really weird production of Macbeth where I mostly played all the parts,” he said. “It was just bonkers.

“I thought I was going to die - there was a lot of water involved and I could feel the audience being worried for my physical safety.

“When we did it in Glasgow at the Tramway, I could feel people wanting to get out of their chairs and come and get me out.”

He also revealed he is learning to play the bagpipes and asked McGregor for tips.

“I have a secret yearning,” Cumming admitted. “I’m trying to learn to play the pipes.

“There’s something about it - wherever you go in the world, if there's a bagpipe within 20 miles and you’re Scottish, the tears come.

“So I have this thing where I want to learn the bagpipes.”

McGregor added he began to learn the bagpipes after filming ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ in the Highlands and got a “flush of Scottish pride”.

He said: “I come from a long line of drummers, but I realised I could be a piper, I don’t have to be a drummer all my life.

“I was doing a film in London which was so slow, so I had nothing but time on my hands in the trailer, so I asked the guys to put my trailer next to the generator,which was a big, noisy, diesel thing.

“I must be the first actor in history to be asked to be put next to it.

“But I could play safe in the knowledge that no one could hear me outside, and by the end of the movie I could play a few tunes.”