Double, double toil and trouble! Alan Cumming opened up to Us at Us Weekly‘s Most Stylish New Yorkers party on Wednesday, Sept. 10, about his favorite Joan Rivers memory.
“I knew Joan and she was lovely,” Cumming, 49, told Us of the late comedienne and fellow New Yorker at the Queen of the Night at the Paramount Hotel.
Rivers — a Broadway aficionado who herself was nominated for a Best Actress Tony Award in 1994 and starred in several Broadway productions throughout her lengthy career — watched Cumming tackle the intense lead role in Shakespeare’s Macbeth in 2013. “Last time I saw her, she came to Macbeth last year — when I was in it,” he recalled. “And she said, ‘You’re playing every part. Can’t I play a part in Macbeth?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you can be one of the witches Joan.'”
The E! Fashion Police star, who passed away last Thursday, Sept. 4, was legendary for her biting sense of humor. The actress was laid to rest Sunday, Sept. 7 at her star-studded funeral, where she was eulogized by her daughter Melissa and pal Howard Stern.
Cumming added to Us that he has oftentimes been the subject of mockery, both on Rivers’ Fashion Police and in the pages of Us Weekly. “Once, I was at the gym and you know the Fashion Police thing came on,” the quirky Cabaret star recalled. “I’d worn Jean Paul Gaultier pants to the Emmys.”
In 2011, Cumming was nominated for an Emmy for his Supporting Actor role in The Good Wife. On the red carpet, he wore a pair of bright-orange floral patterned pants. “She said it looked like I s— my pants,” he said of Rivers’ commentary on her hit E! series.
As for Us? “Most of the times that I’m in the back of your magazine, I actually think that I look quite good,” Cumming told Us with a laugh. “It’s all of those out-of-work stand-up comedians who don’t think so.”
For more details on Joan Rivers’ remarkable life, career, and heartbreaking death, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly.
