Alan Cumming on the BizarreGoldenEyeStunt that Had Firemen Rushing to Help Him

Mar. 15, 2025

Alan Cumming in ‘GoldenEye’ (left) in 1995; Alan Cumming in 2024 (right).Photo:Keith Hamshere/Getty;Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Keith Hamshere/Getty;Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Alan Cumming is always going the distance for his art.

“There hadn’t been a James Bond for years,” Cumming remembered. And this new movie was supposed to bring Bond into the “new post-feminist world.”

“The women were kind of more empowered, you know, and I was called a Bond Boy because you used to always say the women were Bond Girls in a very sort of disposable sort of manner,” Cumming said. It was also the first blockbuster the actor had worked on.

Alan Cumming (left) and Izabella Scorupco in ‘GoldenEye’ in 1995.Keith Hamshere/Getty

Keith Hamshere/Getty

In one of the movie’smost famous moments, Cumming’s Boris is killed in an explosion. “These big gallons of computer coolant explode and come on top of me and freeze me to death. Just another day at the office,”the Emmy winnerexplained in the video. But Cumming didn’t make it out of the stunt unscathed.

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“They had a sort of a rubber band around my waist that was tying me, so when the force of it came I wouldn’t fall down,” he said. Director Martin Campbell wanted the character to look like he was frozen in place, stuck in one position.

Alan Cumming in 2024.Roberto Ricciuti/Getty

Roberto Ricciuti/Getty

“So what happened was, they chucked the big thing of dry ice out, but it was lumps of dry ice which then stuck to my head and burned my scalp,”The Traitorshost remembered. “And I couldn’t move because I had this rubber band round my waist, so I’m there going like, ‘Ah ah this hurts ow ow.’ ” Finally, the firemen realized and started “squishing” his head.

“It was a nightmare,” Cumming remembered. Cumming also disliked the mannequin they made of him to use as his frozen body. They asked him if he wanted to keep it, but he said, “I don’t want to have that in my house.” He later regretted it when the mannequin was featured in a traveling Bond exhibit.

Still, Cumming’s memories weren’t all bad. His character had a catchphrase, “I am invincible.” He explained, “Sometimes when you have a catchphrase and people want you to do things from an old film or play or something, it can be annoying. But I actually love when people want me to say ‘I am invincible.’ ”

In the video, Cumming also reminisced about his time working onSpy Kids,Eyes Wide ShutandRomy and Michele’s High School Reunion. He also teased that he’s expecting to filmtheRomy and Michelesequelthis summer.

source: people.com