Alan Cumming has made TV history by playing the first ever gay lead character in a US network drama, and he wants everyone to know how "very glad" he is to be able to do so.
The iconic actor spoke to Digital Spy about his role in Instinct ahead of its UK premiere, revealing why his character of professor-turned-CIA agent Dr Dylan Reinhart is just as refreshing as it is progressive.
Opening up about the groundbreaking opportunity, Alan conceded that although it was "great", it was also disappointing. "It's a great thing, and also a terrible thing that it's taken until 2018 for that to happen," he told us. "But obviously that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do that."
Revealing how "rare" the portrayal of Dylan's sexuality is, Alan explained: "I'm [also] very, very happy that Dylan's sexuality is the fourth or fifth most interesting thing about him. And also the fourth or fifth thing that is focused about him, in our show.
[Instinct's Alan Cumming and Bojana Novakovic]
"Because it's so rare, as an actor who's played many gay people or LGBT people over the years, for a character who is LGBT to have the focus of his narrative not just about his sexuality."
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As well as being a positive step for representation and diversity in the industry, Alan told us that he believed Instinct represented a big step ahead for America, too.
"[It's refreshing] for the sexuality to be not the main thrust of the story, and to have a very positive caring, loving, same-sex relationship shown," he said. "That's a very big step ahead – for America, especially. And I'm very glad."
While Instinct has yet to air in the UK, the thriller premiered in the US earlier this year – where not everyone was convinced by the way Dylan's sexuality is presented.
Related: Bones fans slam Alan Cumming's new crime drama Instinct for 'ripping off' old storyline
Responding to accusations that a lack of focus on Dylan's sexuality may actually be 'sanitising' a gay character, Alan – who once turned down the chance to play Doctor Who – insisted that it was "not the case".
"As the series goes on, Dylan's relationship with his husband is more focused on, and developed, and you see them at home and being more intimate. It's certainly not something we're shying away from," he argued.
"As a queer person myself, and as someone who's very attuned and vigilant about those sorts of issues, I'm very happy with the way the relationship is being portrayed."
Fortunately for Alan and the rest of the Instinct cast, the series will get another chance to shatter those well-trodden tropes of sexuality when it returns for a second season.
Saying that it was "really nice" to be given another shot, the actor said: "All those things… the things [CBS] were most anxious about turned out to be the things that people responded the most positively to, and is what sets the show apart from other procedural cop shows."
Instinct begins tomorrow (Thursday, August 23) at 9pm on Sky Witness. CBS airs the show in the US.
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