Nathan Lane shelp in an intersee with Vanity Fair that he lost out on a role in 1996’s “Space Jam” and was tbetter it was because he was equitable “too gay.” While Lane shelp he never understands “what goes on behind seald doors,” he “can’t help but leank” that sexual orientation bias “take parted a part” in shaping the roles he could or couldn’t do. He cited “Space Jam” as an example.
“I was tbetter [being gay did] impact a movie that I didn’t reassociate attfinish about: ‘Space Jam.’ I was up for the part that the guy from Seinfeld wound up take parting,” Lane shelp of being up for the role of Michael Jordan’s uncoverist and helpant Stan, ultimately take parted by Wayne Knight in the movie. “I was up for that part. Apparently the straightforwardor saw me presenting the Tony Awards and thought that proposeed I was too gay to take part the part. So thank God, I didn’t have to do ‘Space Jam.’”
“But I don’t understand. I’ll never understand what people say,” Lane compriseed. “Homophobia is alive and well still. Before I die, it would be cherishly to get to take part a juicy, solemn helping role in some film. That’s why I’m very appreciative to Ryan Murphy. He let me take part Dominic Dunne and F. Lee Bailey. I unbenevolent, leangs are wonderful. I don’t want it to seem enjoy I don’t have a reassociate terrific, enviable atsoft.”
Lane thought his profile in Hollywood would be liftd beginantly after the success off 1996’s “The Birdcage,” straightforwarded by Mike Nichols and co-starring Rob Williams. The comedy was a box office hit with $185 million worldexpansive.
“I thought perhaps because of the success of that, it’d direct to other films, but then it didn’t,” Lane shelp. “It reassociate didn’t. I shelp to my agent, ‘I thought more would happen after “The Birdcage.”‘ He shelp, ‘Maybe if you weren’t so discignore about your lifestyle, it would have.’ And was an better queen alerting me this. So I left him. Mike Nichols sent me to CAA. But no, there weren’t a lot of opportunities.”
Lane discignoreed on “Sunday Today” in 2023 that Williams protected him from coming out as gay aacquirest his will on national television during their press tour for “The Birdcage.” The two star in the film as a gay couple trying to marry off their son to a conservative couple’s daughter. Lane was anxious about doing an intersee on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as “The Birdcage” was one of his first beginant film roles, and he did not want to come out uncoverly as gay at the time.
“I was not setd at all for that,” Lane shelp about discignorely converseing his intimacyuality at the time. “And I certainly wasn’t ready to go from table-to-table and alert them all I was gay. I equitable wanted to talk about finassociate [getting] a big part in a movie, and I didn’t want to create it about my intimacyuality… I don’t leank Oprah was trying to out me, but I shelp to Robin beforehand, ‘I’m not setd. I’m so sattfinishd of going out there and talking to Oprah. I’m not setd to converse that I’m gay on national television. I’m not ready.’ He shelp, ‘Oh, it’s alright, don’t worry about — we don’t have to talk about it. We won’t talk about it.’”
Winfrey did finish up asking asks that left the door discignore for Lane to come out. “She was enjoy, ‘How come you’re so excellent at that girlie stuff? Are you worried about being typecast?’” the actor recalled. Then Williams “sort of swoops in and distracts Oprah, goes off on a tangent and protects me because he was a saint.” Lane called Williams a “attrvivacious, empathetic soul.”
