Tony and Emmy winner Nathan Lane is greatest identified for The Producers, The Lion King and The Birdcage, however there have been additionally roles he didn’t get — and for the improper causes.
Requested in a current interview with Self-importance Truthful if homophobia restricted his alternatives, Lane equivocated a bit after which provided one particular instance.
“I don’t know what goes on behind closed doorways, however I can’t assist however suppose that it performed an element. I used to be instructed it did affect a film that I didn’t actually care about: House Jam. I used to be up for the half that the man from Seinfeld wound up enjoying.”
That man from Seinfeld was Wayne Knight, who ended up enjoying Michael Jordan’s assistant within the Warner Bros. movie.
“I used to be up for that half,” recalled Lane. “Apparently the director [Joe Pytka] noticed me internet hosting the Tony Awards and thought that advised I used to be too homosexual to play the half. So thank God, I didn’t need to do House Jam. [Laughs] However I don’t know. I’ll by no means know what individuals say. Homophobia is alive and effectively nonetheless.”
That very same 12 months, Lane had his big-screen breakthrough reverse Robin Williams.
“Then The Birdcage got here alongside. I assumed maybe due to the success of that, it’d result in different movies, however then it didn’t. It actually didn’t. I mentioned to my agent, ‘I assumed extra would occur after The Birdcage.’ He mentioned, ‘Possibly for those who weren’t so open about your life-style, it might have.’ “
Lane mentioned he quickly left that agent.
“Mike Nichols despatched me to CAA,” he mentioned. “However no, there weren’t loads of alternatives.”
