Alan Cumming Admits He Doesn't Understand 'Avengers: Doomsday' Plot

Alan Cumming stars in "Avengers: Doomsday," but he told SiriusXM point blank: "To be honest, I don't fully understand the plot."

Marvel did not allow the returning "X-Men" star to read the full screenplay for the comic book tentpole. Even filming his scenes left Cumming with zero clarity on what was happening around him. The Emmy winner said his purpose in the movie boiled down to just running around.

"There was a bit when we were shooting a scene, and it was one of the rare scenes when I was actually on the backlot and not in front of a blue screen," Cumming said. "And this man came and said, 'So right now Alan, these giant robots are blah blah,' and started to tell me the thing, and I was like, 'You know what, thank you so much, but just tell me where I point my, whatever I point. And I'll do that. Really, I just know I'm here to run around.'"

The confusion extended to his co-stars. Cumming recounted a recent encounter with Florence Pugh at the Emmys, where the two discovered they had never actually met despite sharing scenes — or rather, their body doubles did.

"And I saw Florence Pugh yesterday at the Emmys," he said. "And I said, 'Gosh, it's so funny. I've never met you, but you lay on top of me, or your body double did.' And she goes, 'Yeah I lay on top of you as well, but it was your body double.'"

Cumming reprises the mutant Nightcrawler in "Avengers: Doomsday" alongside returning "X-Men" stars Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden. He debuted as the teleporting, blue-skinned character in "X2: X-Men United" in 2003 and appeared in no other "X-Men" movie. "Doomsday" marks the first time Cumming has played Nightcrawler in 23 years.

One thing has changed dramatically for the better: the makeup. Cumming previously said advancements in movie makeup dramatically cut back the time spent transforming into the blue-skinned and tattooed mutant.

"Before it was about four and a half hours to apply it, but now it's only 90 minutes," Cumming explained. "Before, all of the tattoos were done by hand. They hadn't decided on them before we started filming. Now, they just stick onto my face. It's a game changer."

"Avengers: Doomsday" opens in theaters Dec. 18. Cumming's candid account offers a rare, unvarnished glimpse of blockbuster production at its most compartmentalized — actors pointed, running, and left guessing until the finished film arrives.