Alan Cumming, who plays Peter Florrick’s campaign director Eli Gold on The Good Wife, let slip a couple of spoilers when we ran into him backstage at the G-Star Raw fashion show on Saturday. His new love interest, a DePaul student played by America Ferrera, turns out to be a nanny for opposition candidate Anika Noni Rose. “We meet because I discover she’s an illegal alien, so I go and try and find out stuff to bring her down, and I’m smitten instead,†Cumming explained. He says they do discuss their age difference in the script, but he doesn’t consider it far-fetched. “I don’t think it’s crazy that I would have sex with someone in their early twenties. Do you?†he said. “Let’s do a poll at New York Magazine and find out.â€
Another spoiler: Cumming tells us that Eli has an 18-year-old daughter who will feature prominently in the show. Interesting, since Eli hasn’t had a love interest or a sex scene on the show. (Cumming figured Eli has been blowing off steam all this time by “going home and jacking off furiously.â€)
He thinks that Eli’s confrontations with teenagers — especially high school temptress Becca (Dreama Walker), who revealed campaign secrets over Twitter — may be about this soon-to-be-revealed daughter. “Maybe he’s got a thing about his daughter, transference.†Although Dreama Walker, he says, is a weird little teenager.
Cumming finds Vulture’s Good Wife recap feature “Alan Cumming Reacts to Stuff†funny, but confusing. “Usually I’ve seen that thing before I’ve seen the episodes, so I’m always a bit confused about what you’re talking about anyway because I’m all out of sync with it, and I’m shooting.†But he likes to hear what people think. “I think it’s quite good that they’re noticing I’m reacting to things; it seems that it’s working.†He noted that he does not actually practice reacting to stuff. “I just let it come naturally. I just let it flow like a primordial ooze from my body.â€
As for what will happen to Eli if Peter does win the election, Cumming isn’t sure, but says his contract does extend beyond that point. “I think there may be another campaign coming up, though.â€