Actor and Emmy Award-winning host of The Traitors US, Alan Cumming, is hosting (and producing) a true crime series for Oxygen called The Killer Among Us.
Familiar with a game of deceit and murrrder, Alan will explore real-life murders that have shattered tight-knit communities.
“I’m always interested in things that are a little off kilter and a little surprising, have a little twist to them,” Alan told E! News. “That’s what gets my attention.”
“Also guaranteed to grab your attention? The fact that from the very start, the suspects are usually closer to the victims than you can imagine, but not quite as obvious as you would think,” teased the network.
Alan explained, “In the course of it, you know that the killer is actually—you’ve seen them, and they’re obviously going to be a prominent person in the story, I think it makes you more vigilant.”
The Killer Among Us takes a deeper look into what it was like for the deceased as well as the aftermath of the devastation that follows such heinous crimes. “It’s kind of terrifying,” Alan shared.
“Your co-worker, who you have known for years, might suddenly one day try to kill you. I don’t think you should watch this right before bed, let me put it like that.”
“In that we have found out who the killer is and the fact that it is someone nearby and not some just random friend,” he noted, “in a funny way, it could be comforting, because it means that, yes, you’ve got to be a little more wary and a bit more skeptical of, ‘Keep your enemies close’ and all that stuff, but also that it’s not quite as scary as a place that just all these random people out there are going to come and kill you.”
“I think that’s what the comfort is,” Alan reflected, “that the person who’s going to do it is right beside you, even with the suspects, still close or within the inner circle.”
“That’s what really sort of scares me,” Alan explained. “How can this happen? This is illogical. It’s absolutely doesn’t make any sense that this could—with this evidence that’s available. And then, of course, you realize why it’s because, well—I won’t spoil it for you.”
But no matter the length of time that passes, what’s done in the dark will eventually come to light.
“I love the fact that deceits can last for so long,” he told E!. “Really, the thing that drew me to this show was the was the kind of the twist in it, and the fact that I’m being sort of mysterious and guiding the audience, and sort of quite somber, but at the same time, what they have to remember is, I am going to have told them about someone who’s actually done it. It’s very theatrical.”
The Killer Among Us premiered on Oxygen Sunday, May 17.
