Nathan Lane Says Robin Williams Supported Him When He Didn’t Want to Publicly Come Out
Nathan Lane recalled how the late Robin Williams supported him when he was "not prepared" to publicly come out.
As reported by PEOPLE, star Nathan Lane still remembers how the late Robin Williams supported him during a press tour for their 1996 film The Birdcage. According to the actor, at the time of the tour, Lane was “not prepared at all” to publicly come out as gay. In an exclusive clip for an upcoming episode of NBC’s Sunday TODAY, Lane chatted with host Willie Geist and stated that he “certainly wasn’t ready to go from table to table to tell them all that I was gay” during the pairs press tour for the Mike Nichols comedy film.
Lane said, “I just wanted to talk about [how] I finally got a big part in a movie and I didn’t want to make it about my sexuality. Although it was sort of unavoidable because of the nature of the film and the character.”
Lane, (who earned a Golden Globe for his role as Albert Goldman in The Birdcage) then reflected on “this famous moment when we had to do Oprah.” Lane noted that he’d spoken to the Jumanji star before their appearance because he was concerned that Oprah Winfrey would ask Lane to talk about his sexuality during their interview.
Lane said, “I don’t think Oprah was trying to out me, but I said to Robin beforehand: ‘I’m not prepared. I’m so scared of going out there and talking to Oprah. I’m not prepared to discuss that I’m gay on national television, I’m not ready.’ And he said, ‘Oh, it’s alright, don’t worry about it, we don’t have to talk about it, we won’t talk about it.’ ”
Nathan Lane Remembered How Robin Williams “Sort of Swoops in and Diverts Oprah”
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The Lion King actor then recalled how Williams “sort of swoops in and diverts Oprah and goes off on a tangent and protects me, because he was a saint,” after Oprah asked Lane about being “typecast” in the 1996 film.
Lane stated, “I just wasn’t ready to do that, to make this whole thing… the public side of it, the celebrity side. ‘Oh, now you’re a public figure and you have to make some sort of public statement about it.’ I was terrified. I wasn’t ready to do that.”
The star then said, “It’s great that everyone now feels comfortable, but homophobia is alive and well and there are plenty of gay people who are still hiding.”
Lane publicly came out during a 1999 interview with The Advocate, and even then, he mentioned the Oprah Winfrey Show interview and stated that Williams “jumped in and protected me.”
