Nightcrawler: He Only Looks Scary

Alan Cumming joins the X-Man team in the anticipated film, "X2: X-Men United." As Nightcrawler, he had to endure hours of special makeup effects to become a blue-skinned demon, with pointy ears, yellow eyes, hooves and a prehensile tail.

He also received guidance from a circus trainer to achieve the right acrobatic moves for his character. After all, he is the German-born Kurt Wagner who was raised in a traveling circus.

"It was quite difficult to find the perfect physicality for the character," Cumming said, "but also was great fun to have help in creating such extreme movements for a role."

Nightcrawler may look scary but don't be fooled by his appearance; he is deeply religious and has a gentle nature. He is actually, an important ally to the X-Men, using his power of teleportation for the forces of good. (His teleportation is accompanied by a "BAMPF!" - the sound effects term taken from the comics.)

Cumming said the character has more than a few surprises in store for audiences.

"Well, when we first meet Nightcrawler, he's just not himself," he said. "I quite like playing the parts that appear as bad guys but then it is realized that they are, in fact, good guys who have probably been exploited in some fashion. Nightcrawler is definitely that kind of character."

Tune in Friday to catch up Cumming's interview on The Early Show.

About Alan Cumming:

• Born in Perthshire, Scotland, Jan. 27, 1965.
• Attended Carnoustie High School in Carnoustie, Scotland, with future wife, Hilary Lyon. He also attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.
• First came to attention with cabaret act "Vic and Barry", starring along with Forbes Masson.
• In 1986, made his film debut in Gillies MacKinnon's "Passing Glory."
• In 1988, had his London stage debut in "The Conquest of the South Pole."
• In 1991, was featured in the comedy "Bernard and the Genie," aired on television in Great Britain and released on video the following year in the U.S.
• In 1992, starred in "Prague" as a man searching for a piece of film featuring his family being carted off to concentration camps.
• The following year, he played "Hamlet" at the experimental Donmar Warehouse Theater Sam Mendes ran in London; and was cast as the emcee in Mendes' site-specific staging of "Cabaret;" Jane Horrocks co-starred as Sally Bowles.
• In 1994, made his first U.S. film, "Black Beauty" (voice only); had a supporting role in Chris Menges' "Second Best," starring Horrocks; also made his directorial debut in the short film "Butter;" and teamed up for the first time with Minnie Driver in the short "That Sunday."
• In 1995, he co-wrote and co-starred in hit BBC-TV series "The High Life," re-teaming with Forbes Masson. He had a featured role as creepy Sean Walsh in "Circle of Friends," the film that offered Minnie Driver her breakthrough. Cumming also appeared in the James Bond film "GoldenEye" as computer wiz Boris Grishenko; Driver also had supporting part.
• In 1996, he was featured as Reverend Elton in "Emma."
• In 1997, co-starred as a former nerd in the comedy "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion." Also was featured alongside Rene Russo and Robbie Coltrane as an assistant to an eccentric millionaire with a menagerie of animals including the title gorilla in "Buddy." And he starred in "For My Baby" as a Jewish stand-up comedian taken over by the ghost of his sister, murdered in a concentration camp.
• In 1998, had a co-starring role in the mock rockumentary "Spice World;" and made Broadway debut recreating his London stage role of the emcee in a revival of "Cabaret." He won a Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical.
• In 1999, he offered a sly turn as a lascivious hotel clerk in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" and he played Lord Rochester, the foppish old friend of Jonny Lee Miller's Macleane, in "Plunkett and Macleane." He co-starred with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange in "Titus," Julie Taymor's film version of Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus;" and played the villainous Rooster in the ABC remake of the musical "Annie."
• In 2000, he replaced Robert Downey Jr as the voice of Satan in the short-lived controversial NBC animated series "God, the Devil and Bob;" had dual role of The Great Gazoo and Mick Jagged in the live-action feature "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas." Cumming also played Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in the comedy "Company Man," co-starring Woody Allen. Also the same year, he was cast as an AIDS-stricken gay man in the dark drama "Urbania", based on Daniel Rietz's play "Urban Folk Tales;" and had featured role in the Sylvester Stallone auctioneer "Get Carter."
• In 2001, with Jennifer Jason Leigh, co-directed, co-produced, co-wrote and co-starred in "The Anniversary Party;" he co-starred with Jennifer Ehle and Dominic West in the Broadway revival of "Design for Living;" and acted alongside Antonio Banderas in the family comedy "Spy Kids." He also appeared with Nick Nolte in Alan Rudolph's period comedy-drama "Investigating Sex;" costarred in "Josie & The Pussycats" with Parker Posey.
• In 2002, his first novel, "Tommy's Tale," was published by HarperCollins and he also co-starred in Dough McGrath's "Nicholas Nickleby."