Nathan Lane Recalls Robin Williams’ Advice About Coming Out After ‘The Birdcage’: “He Would Protect Me Whenever He Could”
Nathan Lane and Robin Williams on the set of 'The Birdcage' (1996). Everett
Although it took Nathan Lane nearly a decade to publicly embrace his truth, he had some great allies behind the scenes.
As the actor was honored with the Career Achievement Award at the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television this month, he recalled how his late friend and The Birdcage co-star Robin Williams would “protect me whenever he could” at a time when Lane wasn’t ready to come out as gay publicly.
“I had marched in Pride Parades in the late seventies, but nobody had ever expressed interest in my sexuality,” said Lane in his speech, according to People.
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He explained that he came out to his family at age 21 and was even out to his “friends and colleagues in the business” before he was first asked about his sexuality by a theater journalist “way back in 1989.”
Noting that when he “began playing gay roles, it started to come up more and more,” Lane recounted the topic coming up again during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in promotion of 1996’s The Birdcage.
Nathan Lane accepts the Career Achievement Award during the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television on June 7, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)
“I certainly wish I had been braver at the time,” he said. “Like when Oprah Winfrey on her show asked me why I was so good at all that girly stuff in The Birdcage. If I could go back in time, the answer I wish I had given is: The reason I’m good at all that stuff is because I’m a wonderful actor, but if you’re asking me if I’m gay, the answer is yes and proud of it.”
Although he was “terrified and overwhelmed” by the experience, Lane was comforted by some wisdom Williams had given him before the TV appearance.
“I had expressed my fears beforehand to the late, great Robin Williams, who kindly said to me, ‘Don’t worry, Nathan. You don’t have to discuss it if you’re not ready,'” said Lane. “And he went on to protect me whenever he could throughout the awkward moments.”
He and Williams starred together in the US adaptation of the 1973 play La Cage aux Folles, a French comedy that was later made into a film in 1978.
Robin Williams and Nathan Lane star in The Birdcage (1996). (United Artists / Courtesy Everett Collection)
They played Miami drag queen Albert (Lane) and club owner Armand (Williams), a gay couple that has to pretend to be straight and hide their relationship when their son (Dan Futterman) visits with his fiancée (Calista Flockhart) and her conservative Republican parents (Gene Hackman and Dianne Wiest).
Lane earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the film, which was also nominated for Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical.
The Producers star later came out to writer Bruce Vilanch in a 1999 cover story for The Advocate after he was motivated by Matthew Shepard, who was beaten and left for dead for being gay in 1998 when he was 21, bringing national attention to hate crime legislation.
He recalled Shepard’s death as “an incredibly sobering moment” in his speech, adding: “I’d already come out on a personal level, why not come out publicly now that I was the so-called public figure if it might be meaningful to others in the struggle. So I did, and I’m glad I did.”
Williams, who was long considered an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, died by suicide at age 63 in 2014.