Alan Cumming backs drive to revive cinema in his home town

Cumming, who was born in Aberfeldy and was recently nominated for an Emmy Award, has thrown his support behind the revival of the Birks Cinema in the Perthshire town, which has already raised more than 1 million in funds to help turn it into a hi-tech rural cinema.

Speaking exclusively to Scotland on Sunday, Cumming, 46, said: "The loss of cinemas in small towns is something that the digital age can reverse. The local community want to bring (the Birks] back to life as a modern state-of-the-art cinema and I think it can bring some magic back into the life of not just Aberfeldy but the whole region."

He added: "I've given my support, and also sponsored a seat. I think it's a great way for actors, writers, and other members of the film industry to show their support and would appeal to them to also get involved."

Cumming, who is a patron of the cinema, which this weekend set a six month deadline to raise a total sum of 1.8m, said there was still a lot of work to do.

"The project is ambitious, but the fund-raising is going really well," he said. "With the building purchased, plans drawn up, a clear business plan in place and over half the 1.8m needed already raised, the heat is on and there are only six months left to raise the remainder."

The town has been running a local campaign to revive the old cinema, which will use digital technology to screen a wide variety of movies and cultural projects.

Ron Inglis, director of Regional Screen Scotland said of the project: "The redevelopment of the Birks Cinema is a crucial part of our agency's aim of getting modern, high quality digital cinemas into smaller towns in Scotland". The Friends of Birks Cinema have already launched a series of appeals and applications to businesses, individuals, trusts and film industry figures in an effort to raise funds to reach its six month target of 1.8m.

The Birks Cinema was originally opened as a local picture house in 1939. The first films screened there were 60 Glorious Years starring Anna Neagle, followed by Carefree with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Little Miss Broadway with Shirley Temple.

It remained open until the 1980s, when it was converted into an amusement arcade. It closed down completely in 2004 and was allowed to fall into disrepair. The Friends of Birks Cinema have since started refurbishing the building, and it screened its first film in 28 years - the 1943 information film, Freedom of Aberfeldy - last November.

Cumming, who has starred in a number of high-profile films and currently appears in the US television series The Good Wife, added: "It's a great cause, in a great town, a great way to support the positive development of Scotland's cultural future."