On first impression, Alan Cumming doesn't seem like a force of nature. First impressions, of course, are often wrong, and in this case, spectacularly so. His career so far has encompassed an entire one-man renaissance of accomplishment. Cumming has acted in everything from X2: X-Men United to The L Word, Spy Kids to Cabaret.

He has won a Tony Award and been honored by GLAAD with the 2005 Vito Russo Award. He wrote, directed, produced and acted (with Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the critically acclaimed film The Anniversary Party. He has written a novel (Tommy's Tale, 2002) and marketed a fragrance — named, of course, Cumming.

And he is currently making the rounds on the film festival circuit promoting his latest project, a quirky black comedy called Suffering Man's Charity, which premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, last month. Cumming both directed and starred in the film, which tells the story of John Vandermark (Cumming), a repressed, gay cello teacher pining over Sebastian St. Germain (David Boreanaz of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Bones), a hustler and would-be novelist living rent-free in John's old, decaying family home.

When I asked him about the appeal of the film to queer audiences, Cumming smiled at the choice of word. "Queer — I like that," he said. "Because it's not just what you do with your genitals; it's to do with your mind."

He continued: "My character is a Tennessee Williams heroine, and so obviously there's that kind of desire and longing. I love the thing in Streetcar Named Desire: 'Cemetery to Desire, and back.' Desire and death are always very close. And I think [it] is a big queer theme. Desire, when you get it, is death."

Cumming doesn't hesitate to go right over the top in his portrayal of John Vandermark, who is more than a little crazy. He throws himself with such enthusiasm into the role, in fact, that it's hard to imagine anyone else playing it. Was it written for him?

Cumming laughed and said he actually didn't know. "Maybe it was. But it would be funny if it were, because the role I played in Gray Matters [a recent romantic comedy starring Heather Graham] , the woman wrote the part for me specifically. And he's like the nicest man in the world. He's so nice I think he must be sedated. Nice to the point where he must be a serial killer."

Charity's John Vandermark is much closer to serial killer than nicest man in the world. What moved Cumming to give life to such a disturbed — and disturbing — character?

"I think people who have a queer sensibility seem to enjoy stories about underdogs," Cumming said, "or people who are odd and are strangers in society battling with whatever circumstance they find themselves in. And it's partly, I think, because they are different. And we are different. No matter how integrated we become, in some way you always remember and relate it to the feeling of not being completely accepted."

It's a moment of perfect synergy that this very odd, extremely disturbing dark comedy should premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where "odd," "dark," and "disturbing" are three of festival filmgoers' favorite words.

"I love Austin ," Cumming told the Austin Statesman before the premiere. "I'm excited that it's going to be seen in the right environment because the film is an odd, weird, cracked-out sort of thing."