Alan Cumming has been painting with his longtime chimp bestie.
The Emmy-winning “The Traitors” host has collaborated on an abstract painting with Tonka, a primate who stars of HBO’s “Chimp Crazy,” we’re told. Cumming and Tonka — who became close pals when they starred in 1997 comedy “Buddy” — used the colors of the Royal Banner of Scotland, the actor’s homeland, for the piece being auctioned on Charitybuzz.
“I painted and signed the bright yellow basecoat, and Tonka used a vivid red to add brushstrokes, an homage to the Scottish Lion Rampant,” Cumming told Page Six.
“We chose a non-toxic brand as Tonka loves tasting paint as part of the process,” he added.
The money raised for the painting will benefit Save the Chimps sanctuary. If the duo is lucky, perhaps chimp art fans like Pink, who once dropped $5,000 on a chimp’s painting, will scoop it up. Joaquin Phoenix’s collaboration with ape Rooney and the Save The Chimp Gallery fetched for $10,000 at Art Expo in New York this spring.
Cumming and Tonka’s piece is expected to at least match that before the auction closes on Oct. 1, according to an insider. After all, he just won two Emmys on Sunday, and Tonka is the star of a hit HBO documentary. The bidding is already over $2,000 since it opened on Tuesday.
Cumming and Tonka’s relationship go back for nearly three decades. The duo first starred together in the flick.
In 2022, Tonka went missing for months and the “Cabaret” star and PETA offered a $20,000 reward to whoever found his missing animal pal.
“During the months we filmed together, baby Tonka and I became good friends, playing and grooming each other and just generally larking about,” Cumming said at the time.
“It’s horrible to think he might be in a cage in a dark basement somewhere or have met some other fate, so I’m appealing to whoever knows what has become of him to please come forward and claim the reward,” he said.
Tonka was later found and sent to Save the Chimps in Florida, where he currently lives with over 200 other rescued chimpanzees. The winning bidder on Cumming and Tonka’s artwork will get a VIP tour of Tonka’s living quarters in addition to the signed painting.
