Russell T Davies reveals first choice for Tip Toe casting
Russell T Davies had his casting in mind while he was writing Tip Toe.
Russell T Davies wrote Tip Toe with Alan Cumming in mind.
The 63-year-old screenwriter, who is known for his work on the likes of Doctor Who, Queer As Folk and It's A Sin, is back with a dark new Channel 4 drama starring Alan alongside David Morrissey.
Russell told The Big Issue magazine: "We attached a star to it. You always hear people saying, 'Sigourney Weaver is attached to this film' - so we said, let's give that a go."
In the show, Alan plays a gay man named Leo who runs a bar on Canal Street in Manchester, England opposite David as his neighbour Clive, an unemployed electrician who becomes radicalised, and Leo becomes the focus of his hatred.
In a joint interview, Alan told the magazine that he was able to "relate to" a lot of his character's qualities.
He eplained: "There were so many things I could relate to in Leo as a pretty deep-middle-aged queer man.
"I'm outspoken. I use my platform. And I get a lot of hatred on a daily basis.
"Russell captures something brilliant with these characters. You can see their point - or at least see how they arrived at their point.
"Even though this is a huge treatise on where we are right now, it's not a polemic. It's very nuanced. Actually, I don't relate to that. Because I am very polemical."
The veteran actor has watched the show with his family, and he "forgot" how tense things would be for viewers.
He added: "I watched it with [husband] Grant and our niece, and the thing I forgot is the suspense for the audience.
"Because they know how it's going to end up, but they don't know when or how."
For Russell, he has tapped into a fear of how social media is impacting the youth, and he is scared for his own relatives as they grow older.
He said: "I don't have any children. I was too busy running around, having a laugh, having a career, but my sister did. And now those children are having children.
"I'm looking at the world my niece's twins are inheriting with fear - I dread the day those two beautiful boys go online.
"So I'm getting angry about that. I can absolutely say gay rights are being reversed. And our trans friends are living increasingly in a state of absolute terror."
He noted that the way LGBTQ+ people are being treated is "being driven by this hatred online", which is "allowing us to be hated all over again".
He added: Only now we're visible. We're everywhere.
"And we're standing, out in the open. It's like the crosshairs are settling down on us. And it is terrifying."
