Interview: Alan Cumming on 'Any Day Now'

Any Day Now, set in the late 1970s, is based on a true story. Cumming’s character, Rudy, is a down-on-his-luck drag queen who dreams of being a singer – and who takes in the teen, Marco, after the boy’s mother is arrested for drug possession. Rather than let Marco disappear into foster-care system, Rudy tries to adopt him, in partnership with a semi-closeted attorney named Paul (Garret Dillahunt).

What is it that leads the broke Rudy to try to assume care for Marco? “He’s got a sense that Marco is an outsider, just as he is,” Cumming says. “He recognizes him as someone who is being pushed aside and that’s something he responds to. He’s got a strong sense of what’s right, of decency.

“That’s a very Scottish trait, fighting for decency and fairness in a personal way. Very Scottish. But Rudy also wants to give something back. That’s why people relate to him. He sees how awful Marco’s life is; who wouldn’t help? Those are such primal emotions, like that whole thing of a mum lifting the car off her kids. And then he’s ostracized as well, just for helping.”

The film, set in 1979 California, offers echoes of the Prop 8 controversy that still lingers in that state, which forbade gay marriage. Adoption by same-sex parents is illegal in almost a dozen American states.