Sexuality should be desensationalised as defining characteristic, says Alan Cumming

Actor Alan Cumming says the practice of labelling LGBTQ actors by their sexuality should stop.

The 54-year-old actor, who made a history when his role as Dylan Reinhart on "Instinct" became the first ever openly gay lead in a US network drama, believes a person's sexuality should not be the only defining factor.

"I get really pi**** off, I'm bored, when people say 'gay actor' Alan Cumming or 'queer actor' Alan Cumming. Fair enough, all those things are true, but you wouldn't say 'straight actor', or 'heterosexual actor'.

"When you look at it like that... We have to get to the point where we just tell stories about people, and one of the facets of them is that they're LGBTQ or whatever. It's about how you desensationalise someone's sexuality," Cumming told People NOW.

The actor added playing Dylan has been an honour for him and he appreciates that his character's sexuality is not the focus point of the arc.

"What I think is important to go through, to keep happening on television and film, is that you have these characters, they're doing something in the story, and they just happen to be gay or whatever. But that's not the main thrust of their narrative," he said.