Scottish actor Alan Cumming is turning his back on theatre to pursue his big screen career - because he can no longer afford to live on a stage actor's wage.

The X-Men star is a celebrated star of the stage, winning a Tony Award for his performance in musical Cabaret in 1998, but he finds the theatre's pitiful pay cheques a struggle.

And the breaking point came earlier this year (08) when Cumming's appearance in renowned play The Seagull earned him less than he was paying his own personal assistant.

He says, "It's not been a high-earning year. I just did The Seagull off Broadway. I was getting paid less than half what I pay my assistant. When I did Garfield I did two days and made a ton."

"Those are the things that allow me to go off and do the piddly (tiny) little things. But none of this theatre lark any more - I need to earn a bit of money." (MJ/WNSOB/LJ)

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