Emmy award-winning actorNathan Laneis known for his roles in a lot of projects. He was the voice of Timon in Disney’sThe Lion King, Albert Goldman inThe Birdcage, and he recently appeared as Dominick Dunne in the controversial Netflix seriesMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. However, there’s one role Lane says he didn’t get that ended up going to “the guy fromSeinfeld” for one, ridiculous reason: homophobia.
Lane, whocame out as gay in 1999, recently spoke to Vanity Fair about his life and career. When asked if he feels that his roles in Hollywood were limited because of homophobia, the Tony award-winning actor said he didn’t know if that was the case in every part he lost out on, but he did provide a specific example of when it did rear its ugly head. The movie in question? The beloved 1996 family sports comedySpace Jam.
“I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but I can’t help but think that it played a part. I was told it did impact a movie that I didn’t really care about:Space Jam. I was up for the part that the guy fromSeinfeldwound up playing.”
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Nathan Lane is a charming and revered performer who has crafted a stellar resume on both the stage and screen, with a career spanning over 40 years.
The part was as Michael Jordan’s publicist and assistant in Space Jam, Stan Podolak, which ended up going toSeinfeld’sWayne Knight. Knight is famous for portraying the role of Newman in the classic sitcom, and three years beforeSpace Jam, he ended up playing a pivotal role inJurassic Parkas disgruntled computer programmer Dennis Nedry. “I was up for that part,” continued Lane, adding:
“Apparently the director [Joe Pytka] saw me hosting the Tony Awards and thought that suggested I was too gay to play the part. So thank God, I didn’t have to do Space Jam. [Laughs] But I don’t know. I’ll never know what people say. Homophobia is alive and well still.”
Shortly after Lane lost out on the part inSpace Jam,The Birdcageended up falling into his lap. Based on the 1973 French playLa Cage aux Folles, the film starred Lane and Robin Williams as a gay couple whose son is set to marry the daughter of a conservative senator and his wife. Produced for $31 million, the comedy went on to earn more than $185 million at the box office, and for Lane, he thought for sure it would lead to other big roles. Unfortunately, it didn’t, and a derogatory quip from his agent at the time proved his point about homophobia being a real issue in Hollywood.
“The Birdcagecame along. I thought perhaps because of the success of that, it’d lead to other films, but then it didn’t. It really didn’t. I said to my agent, ‘I thought more would happen afterThe Birdcage.’ He said, ‘Maybe if you weren’t so open about your lifestyle, it would have.'”
Thankfully, Lane got rid of that agent shortly thereafter. Next up for him isMid-Century Modern, a Hulu original comedy series that’s described asa gender-swapped version ofGolden Girls,which stars Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham as three gay men who decide to live together in Palm Springs, where the wealthiest of the three lives with his mother. All 10 episodes of the show’s first season drop this coming Friday, March 28.
Source:Vanity Fair
