Nathan Lane: The Stars Align
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Hello, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here with me on Literally. Today's a really fun one. The great Nathan Lane, his career in movies and particularly on the Great White Way, Broadway, is spectacular. He's worked with everybody. He's been in everything from The Lion King to Birdcage to...

People versus O.J. Simpson. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. And one of the producers, probably the single greatest living musical theater person that we have, for sure. And he's hilarious. So let's get started with Nathan Lane.

Jilly, you can't waste the gold or the pastrami. That was the worst Sinatra impersonation anyone's ever done. Could have been anybody. It could have been B. Arthur. Could have been Broderick Crawford. But yeah, I get it. I like it because it really was Broderick. And I love that your references are equally as dated as mine. This podcast is nothing if not for people with...

Extremely dated. I like to think of it more as for an adult crowd as opposed to, you know, just, you know, pandering to the kids. Oh, my God. Of course. Very briefly, I worked on a Gary Marshall film, Frankie and Johnny, and your lovely, adorable, charismatic wife.

was the makeup artist. That's right. For Al, and then she would occasionally, you know, she'd have to do me. That is so great. Oh my God, she's going to be so excited. She would tell me, you know, there's no closer relationship except for a therapist than your makeup person who, you know, you share things. It's early in the morning, you're tired, you haven't had enough coffee, and you tend to, you know, share a lot of things. And she told me she was

dating you. This was in like 1990 we were making this film. That's right. And you, so, you know, and I think I, I think I believed her. I think I encouraged her. I said, well, yeah, you could do, you certainly could do worse than Rob Lowe. That sounds pretty good to me. And then you came by one day. We just sort of had a brief exchange.

outside of the makeup trailer. Oh, my God. I believe I said you should marry him. Well, then thank you. We're still together. That's an extraordinary accomplishment. Congratulations. I know. It's like married 30 plus years in show business is like 300 years in regular life. No, no. It's amazing. And and she has now she has her own jewelry business.

That's right. She does Cheryl Lowe designs and then the men's stuff, which I'm wearing here, Mr. Lowe, named after me. But yes, she was... When she was Al Pacino's makeup artist, this like...

That's how I got to know Al. And of course, I'm sure you did. And what an amazing, like a true eccentric genius. Oh, well, yes, certainly one of one of the greats. I can't say I really got to know him well, but he you know, I I you know, he was certainly someone I looked up to and had tremendous respect for. And he was

I think he had a good time, you know, because he was he had worked with Michelle, I guess, on Scarface. Oh, that's right. Of course. Gary was Gary Marshall, who was such a sweetheart and created such a great atmosphere. So I know what I do remember is that Al would he would before every take, he would jump down and start doing pushups.

kind of get the blood going and, I don't know, shake out whatever else was going on inside his head. But he would sort of run around and then get down, do push-ups and a bit of calisthenics. Yeah, I can see the calisthenics. I can't imagine the push-ups. Well, push-ups, yeah. But I'd be too tired to do the take. Oh. But he would always kind of do that to gear up. Oh, that always sounds like a good idea. I remember on the West Wing, the very first, like,

First episode, I was so excited to be on it. Brad Whitford was sort of my contemporary on it. And we were like, we're going to do pushups. This is back when they were putting film in the camera. We actually had film. So every time they changed a mag, he and I had a challenge that we were going to do pushups. I think it lasted for one half day of shooting. Yeah.

You just can't do that. You know, well, and there weren't a lot of shirtless scenes in the West Wing. No walking and talking in a locker room. It was only the Oval Office. I need to know...

about Mike Nichols. Sure. You obviously worked with him on Birdcage and probably other things. Did you work with him in the theater? Sadly, no. I always, I wished we had. Obviously, this legendary director and performer. Hit people with some of the credits. First, he became famous as part of the comedy team of Nichols and May. And they sort of changed the face of comedy.

That's right. No one had really done what they were doing. And it was so smart and sophisticated and funny and human. And so they kind of came from the Compass Theater in Chicago, which was the basis for Second City. And then they became such a huge success. They made many television appearances and then had a Broadway show, An Evening with Nichols and May, that was

A tremendous success. And then, of course, they eventually went their separate ways because Elaine, another genius, Elaine May, who she was tired of doing the same thing over and over. She didn't like that. She liked the improvisational things.

style and and so she didn't want to keep doing the same evening of skits uh you know for a long time and they eventually so they went their separate ways and he was slowly but surely figuring out that he actually wanted to become a director so initially his huge success was in the theater directing the plays of neil simon barefoot in the park uh the odd couple

And that and many other plays and he winning Tony after Tony. And then his first film was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. And then The Graduate. He went on to do...

Many other films. Well, yes, The Birdcage. The Birdcage with you and Robin Williams. A genius. Massive, massive accomplishment. It was a big hit for him. And at that point in his life, he hadn't had a hit in a while. So it was a very happy experience. Look, you know, just...

The notion that he... Originally, it was supposed to be Steve Martin and Robin Williams. And Robin Williams was supposed to play the part that I wound up playing. And then Steve couldn't get out of another commitment. And then Robin decided he had already been an address in Mrs. Doubtfire. And so that role opened up. And then somehow...

Mike Nichols thought I might be a good fit. How did that happen? What was that process like? I'm always fascinated how other folks get roles. You know, in Medium, it was like meeting God. Yes. I was going to ask you, was he as charming and hilarious and dry and cutting as I hear? Yes. When you had a dinner with Mike, you would want to read up on current events, on anything, because he could talk on any subject.

intelligently and and with yes tremendous wit and and uh he was um so that was intimidating but he made you that thing that all all the greats have which is he had the ability to make you feel like the most important person in his life that was part of his also his style of directing was

It was like entering a love affair. He loved you. He loved the actors and was incredibly supportive and caring and sensitive and, yes, wildly funny. And then he kind of directed by anecdote. Oh, wow. You know, there might be a general thesis about what the themes of the piece were, what we should look for. But he didn't really say a lot, but he would tell stories. And somehow you started to realize the stories changed.

had something to do with the scene you were doing and keeping it always, always very grounded, even though it's a French farce that we were doing, Le Cage Faux. But yeah, I mean, it was just a very, it was a joyous experience because he was having such a good time. He was reuniting with Elaine May on that film. I mean, she had helped him

on other screenplays, but this was something they had always wanted to do. And finally, they were able to get the rights and do this American remake of La Cage Aux Folles. And, of course, Robin Williams, another, you know, a genius and a saint, just the sweetest, kindest, most compassionate person

and hilarious people. I mean, so the way his mind works, it was just astonishing. And so he was very much, Robin was always, it was part of his way he worked, his process, which was he kept everything up. And in between takes, he would be entertaining and doing riffs on this or that on lighting fixtures or whatever was there.

He would turn into something hilarious. And, of course, Gene Hackman, my favorite actor ever, who was, I think he had just come off that submarine film with Denzel Washington. By the way, that's my favorite. This might be my favorite part of the universe so far. He just came off the submarine film. Makes me laugh for some reason. That's Murderer's Row of icons. And, you know, two-time Oscar winner Diane Wiest, who's no slouch.

And she was delightful. And it was just such great. And of course, Hank Azaria, who just stole the whole thing. Yes. Yeah, it was. He rehearsed it like a play for like three weeks. And then we started shooting. And, you know, it was just one of those times when, you know, the stars were aligned and the gods were looking.

favorably upon us and it came together do you have a sense of when the stars are aligning i mean nobody ever knows really right you know what's gonna happen why why things work why they don't you know unless it's just mediocre material but it was you know it's just such a happy time and that doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna work as a film you know sometimes but there's a lot of turmoil and

And fighting over it. And it can be fantastic. But this was just an extremely happy experience. I think it doesn't hurt that it's one of the great comic plots of all time. Right. Every time it's been done, it's been successful. So we had that in our favor. But it was just...

It was, we just had a blast and, and I was a very lucky thing to be a part of just to be asked to be a part of it. When a movie like that comes out and it's such a big deal, what is your like personal process of like, okay, now I've done that. So I really want to go back to the theater for a while, or I'd like to follow it up with another movie or, or do you just go with what's available in front of you and interesting? Well, um, I can't say the, you know, the scripts came pouring in. Um,

And here were the options. I was asked to be in a movie of Mr. Magoo. This is a great one. This is amazing. And I met with the director and he said, it's going to be an all new Mr. Magoo. I said, well, really, what does that mean? And I said, well, he's a little old man. We're talking about prosthetics and he's bald and he can't see. And he said, no, we're not doing any of that.

And I don't know, you know, it's like it's a little cartoon, you know, it's Jim Backus. Well, George, you know, there's that. It's all about him bumping into things and mistaking people, you know, and all of that. Anyway, so he said, no, we're not doing any of that. And I it just as much as I thought, oh, it'd be nice to make that amount of money. I said, no.

and wound up doing a film called Mouse Hunt.

with uh gore verbinski it was his very first film he this was a a director who had he was best known at the time for doing the budweiser frogs commercials that's right and then he did pirates i believe yes oh very he's won an oscar for rango he very he became wildly successful but this was his first film much more interesting it was one of the first films for dreamworks and uh

I don't think they were happy with his take on it. You know, when we would talk about it, he kept referencing Roman Polanski's The Tenant. But we're making a film about two guys trying to catch a mouse. Yeah.

You know, it's like Tom and Jerry. I don't, I, you know, I'll think about what Roman Polanski was doing in The Tenant, but. Well, you know, it's that Eastern European sense of humor. You know, it's always so frothy and warm. Well, you know, he wanted a darkness to it.

It was myself and this brilliant, brilliant comedian named Lee Evans, a British comedian, a wonderful guy and great comic, and Christopher Walken. I had to convince them because Christopher Walken was too expensive.

And I campaigned and said, you can take some of the money you're giving me, give it to Christopher Walken. It will make a huge difference when we open the door and Christopher Walken is standing there as the exterminator. I'd say. And it had a great look. And I guess it's become a bit of a cult film.

It's always brought up to me a lot by Russian cab drivers. They always say, are you in the Mouse movies? Yeah, the Mouse movies, the funniest movie ever made. Anyway, we had a great deal of fun. And he made this sort of, it was like a Coen Brothers movie for children. ♪

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While you still can. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. And participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. Have you ever stopped to count how many shows, not shows themselves, but like how many nights of shows you've done in the theater? Oh, God, no. But I mean...

I've spent, you know, a lot of time on the stage. Yeah. I mean, like, like you, I'm sure, you know, like the run of the producers was X amount of a hundred plus for sure. Right. Well, I did it. I did it for a year on Broadway. And then we went back to it for a few months, uh, a couple of years later, uh, Matthew Broderick, um, and then, uh,

I wound up doing it in London by accident. I was not supposed to do it, but then Richard Dreyfuss was going to do it and they're amazing. Things didn't work out. And so I ran over at the last minute and the week before they started previews. And then we made the movie. What is the weirdest thing you have ever witnessed?

in the theater. I mean, people say, well, a guy had a heart attack in aisle three. Like, what... You must have. You've lived on the stage. The weirdest thing. Well...

Yes, there are. I won't say it's commonplace, but there's nothing worse than bad theater. But I know that during the producers, they had to bring the curtain down. A man was having a heart attack.

He was in the and he was in the balcony. His family had brought him. This is just tragic. His family had brought him there for his birthday and they got him into the lobby. He died in the lobby. Jesus. Mine was not as tragic. The theater I was playing.

in was the Haymarket. Oh, Theater Royal Haymarket. It's really, it's an amazing old theater and it was great. And of course, you know, they have royal boxes in every theater if any of the royals ever came to the theater, which of course they never do. What did you do with the Haymarket? Oh, Mr. Aaron Sorkin and I went over and did a few good men together. How great. It was fun. It was really fun. I had a blast. Um,

And that's a great part, Caffey. And it's very, very, it's very different than the movie, actually. Much funnier. It's a really, which I never believed having seen the movie. I love the movie. But the people who played Caffey were like, oh, it's hilarious. It brings it out. I was like, oh, and it does. But the royal box always isn't empty because there are no royals there. But every once in a while, someone who knows somebody who's paid something will be in it, right? And it's right on the, basically almost on the stage, on the side.

And I looked over one day during the performance and there was a couple having sex. Oh, so at intermission, the house manager went to them and said, you can't.

have sex you can't do that and and apparently all of the the people who are really familiar with the london theater seems like no no they're notorious they will they don't show up i mean they're a notorious couple that like that's their their thing and like oh yeah i was doing a production of les mis and so like it was kind of a thing the fuckers yeah no i'm sure there's there must be sexual goings-on but i i i've not actually witnessed you're too much of a pro to care

I had the distinction of actually acting with Aaron Sorton. What? Many, many, many years ago when you were just a child. I was asked to do, they were doing a one-act play festival at St. Clement's in New York. And a friend of mine was directing this one-act play called What's Wrong With This Picture?

And it was written by this young guy named Aaron Sorkin. Oh, boy. And so this guy who was supposed to do an actor was supposed to be in the play and he fell out. And it was it's sort of the leading role in the piece. And so so this the director said to me, he's he'll come by. He's going to bring it over to you to read to my apartment.

Um, and, and so, you know, this nice young man showed up at the door. His name was Aaron Sorkin and he gave me this little script and, and I read it and it was, it was very funny, very funny, very well written one act play. And so I, I had, I was, wasn't doing anything at the time and I said, yeah, sure. I'll do it. It's hilarious.

Wow. And then the guy who was playing, I played the director of a movie. It was their last day of shooting on this film. And he's trying to get this big, supposedly this big group, a battle happening on a hill. And then in the middle of this shot, and they're losing the light, it's all of that kind of thing. And a herd of cows wander in to this shot.

And so he's trying to get the cows out of the shot. And it's him and the screenwriter and a couple of other people in the play. And it's just a very funny little one act. And then the guy who was playing the screenwriter, which is the other large role in it, I don't know, I forget, he got a real job and left. And Aaron took over for a few performances, whatever performances we had left.

So I acted with Aaron Sorkin. That is, that's amazing. That, and who would have thought, right? And he played, so he played the screenwriter. Oh. Even then, he knew what he wanted to do. Oh, believe me, he knew what he wanted to do. You have such an interest. I mean, you've worked with everybody. Jesus Christ. George C. Scott? George C. for Cuddled Scott.

That's what I hear. I hear cuddly as the day is long. I made my Broadway debut with George C. Scott. And that's 1980, 82. He directed and starred in a revival, surprisingly, in a revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter. And he played the Noel Coward role. It was supposed to be Frank Langella.

who couldn't do it. And then he, he had told the producers, you know, I played that part in summer stock. I'll, I can do it. And it was, it was a surprise success because it was an unusual piece of casting. And he was incredibly kind to me. And, and, uh, it was, um,

Yeah, a wonderful way to make a Broadway debut. You know, he was obviously, for anyone who remembers him, I mean, mainly he's remembered for having played General Patton and winning an Oscar and then refusing it. But he was a troubled soul. He referred to himself as a functioning alcoholic, which was a debatable fact. But he...

He loved actors and he was to be on stage with him. He was electric. You know, he was just brilliant and was very sort of paternal with me. Very, you know, so it's a very fond memory. Geez, I would say. Tell me about the Ari Aster movie. Oh, because listen, I'm a big Ari Aster fan, an amazing filmmaker.

And the cast is nuts. Well, it starts with Joaquin Phoenix. Well, okay, stop right there. I think he's the best actor out there. Yeah, I'd agree with you. He's extraordinary, and he's a total mensch, a sweetheart. I loved working with him. I'm so glad to hear that. And Amy Ryan, the great Amy Ryan, plays my wife in it. And who else? Patti LuPone.

I love Patti LuPone so much. Oh, it's a lot of wonderful people. The title might change. It's been under the working title was Disappointment Boulevard. Yes. Which is a title that I love.

But it might become another title. But I had just had dinner with Ari, who's also a mensch. Also, if you ever have the opportunity, just say yes. So smart. And he's such a sweet guy. But this is sort of his most ambitious film. Because the others were...

What would you call them? Horror or horror movie? I mean, this is the director of Hereditary and Midsommar. Yeah. So those went very well. Amazing. He refers to this as a nightmarish comedy. So and it is this sort of Kafkaesque journey that Joaquin is on. And it's I guess this is a movie about guilt.

The story of a mother, of a son and his mother and guilt. That's all I can tell you. Is the reason that's all you can tell me that it is a secret or that that's all that you were able to understand from the goddamn screenplay? It's dense. But there's a lot of things going on. And some of it is very darkly funny, like the section of the film that Amy and I are in.

is very much black comedy, but then it gets darker and darker as it goes along. And then Joaquin escapes and goes into the next section of the film. But it's very... I'm so curious to see how it has all turned out. I know that Ari is happy with it, and A24 has seen his cut and is very happy with it. So...

Yeah, it's just a very ambitious project.

But it is very dark, especially by the end. It doesn't have a happy ending. No, I'm so shocked. It's fascinating. He's a wonderful writer. It was a great experience. Because I didn't quite know what to expect with Joaquin. I look at him in awe. We had so much fun. So he is. There's a famous clip.

circulating of he and Philip Seymour Hoffman cracking up during the making of The Master. Yeah. And I'm thinking, these guys are so cool and their sort of legend is that they're, you know, they're gnarly, intense people

And yet they're sweet and funny as can be. Yeah. I know when we started, there was a scene that we were shooting and Joaquin had a take on it that was very intense. Yeah.

And it was the introduction of my character and Amy's character. Amy is this very kind woman and I come in and I'm a doctor. There's black comedy, the way it's written. But Joaquin was going in another direction. And then at a certain point, I said to him, I love you. I'll do whatever you want. But I don't know how to break it to you, but there's some funny stuff here and we're

So we and so he was like, you know what, I'm going in the wrong direction. And and and then, of course, you know, if I improvised, he was he was gone. He was like, I can't look you in the eye or I'll laugh.

And I just love being in scenes with him because he would, you know, he would totally surprise you. Each take would be different and he would go in another direction and you would, you know, he was, and he's just the sweetest guy in the world. So it was a blast. ♪

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All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers, passport. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

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on broadway tell me what you have to have thoughts you must have thoughts on like you know where it is in relationship where you start because i like i certainly do in the movie business my my broadway i've done one thing i did my broadway debut and that was it it was with the great tony randall tony randall's national actors theater do you remember the actors theater the national actors theater was always trying to get me to do something i bet he must have right

Yes. What did you do with him? Oh, I did a French Fosse myself. Nothing like yours, of course. This is my Tony Randall. But it was called, oh, A Little Hotel on the Side. A Little Hotel on the Side. Yes. You did that. Oh, well, you have to come back to the theater. I want to. Let's do a play together.

I would. I would love. And I really, I'm actually really, really want to. And we were going to do it with a few good men, but I like it's not going to go better than it did in London. So I didn't do it, but I would. I'm desperate to do it. Yeah. I mean, like the last thing that they came to me to do was a remake of War of the Roses. But everything's a movie now. I know. Yeah, I know. Right. Yes. That's problematic.

Although if it was well-written, it could be funny. But yeah, I know everything is a musical of a movie or a successful movie. I don't, to be honest, I've just been watching from afar. You know, I haven't been working. It's been now, the last thing I did was in 2019.

So it's been a while, but I mean, it's, it's been certainly things are getting better right now in terms of, I'm just talking about business. Yes. Not the artistic side from an, from the business side, you know, people are showing up and, and, uh, uh, and certain things are selling well. Um, it, you know, uh, it, I don't know how it right now, I would say it's probably not a great time for serious plays. Um, but,

Um, I mean, that's always, that's been the case for a while and, you know, it's, it's become, you know, Times Square has been Disney-fied and it's like a theme park now and it's wildly expensive. You know, I mean, people are showing up to see Hugh Jackman and the Music Man, but you know, it's like $600. Right. It's like the opera. We've lost a certain audience. It's not for everybody. Right.

anymore the way it used to be. That's what the theater used to be. It was for everyone. My first trip to New York as a kid that I remember, I saw the original production of The Wiz and A Chorus Line in the same two nights. You don't get that now, I don't think. Occasionally, something comes along, a Hamilton or something.

What have you. That's true. Or an interesting new play or musical. Look, it's expensive to produce. It's a whole, we've painted ourselves into a horrible financial corner where it's wildly expensive. And it used to be even off-Broadway is expensive now.

It used to be there, the more daring things were being done. I mean, as one of the stars of The Lion King, did you go to see the theater, the Julie Taymor version? Yeah. No, it was sort of like, how will they solve this? And then I thought she did. She found a really theatrical way of telling that story. And it was beautiful. And yeah, I mean, it was a little weird to see him.

You know, the meerkat and the warthog are, you know, some poor actor has, you know, painted green and standing behind a puppet.

That's not a job you want. Speaking like, you know, myself and Ernie Sabella doing our old ad libs. You know, it worked. It's obviously. So that was that was a case where they they found a real artist to take something and really turn it into an original. Do you remember the first time you heard Elton's theme for?

Lion King, any of the music? We used to, when it was going to premiere, we did a couple of press things with Jeffrey Katzenberg. Jeffrey Katzenberg, they would show a couple of clips from the movie, and then Jeffrey Katzenberg came out with some real lions. As he does. And, you know, as he's wont to do. And then Ernie Sabella and I would come out and kibitz with the crowd and sing Hakuna Matata.

Amazing. That was the first time they showed the wildebeest stampede, which was quite amazing in terms of animation. And then they showed, I guess they showed the circle of life.

And, yeah, it was such a beautiful song he and Tim Rice wrote. And, yeah, you sort of knew, wow, this is powerful stuff. The rest is history. I'm excited for Ari Aster. Wait, but there's also something else. American Crime Story, O.J. Simpson, People vs. O.J. Simpson. I loved it.

Yeah, yeah, that was really well done. I loved it. And how great, I mean, and you worked with John, my man, John Travolta. Oh, yes. I love John so much. There's no one like him. There's no one like John Travolta. Yeah, well, it was a great group. Sarah Paulson, Courtney Vance, who I've known for years. Such a wonderful actor. How much did Brian Murphy direct of it? He directed a couple of them, two or three.

I want to say two or three. He's such a...

you know, a character, you know, he would arrive with an entourage, you know, a little late. But then he was, he was brilliant because he knew exactly what he wanted. And yet he was collaborative. And if you said, I have an idea, can we try this? Can we try that? He was open to it. He was, I loved working with him. He's very entertaining. He's a very entertaining guy. Super fun. He produces and co-created

The show I'm on now. Oh, that's right. 9-1-1 Lone Star. It's a big hit. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Always good when you get lucky. That's so lovely. You know what I didn't know about? I wasn't aware that you had turned down Grey's Anatomy.

And I'm trying to make up for it now. You've done many great shows, Parks and Rec and West Wing. You've done a lot of great shows. But that was, I was like, oh, of course that would have been. And I say this with all respect. McDreamy. McSteamy. Let's just say I had enough of it during my Tiger Beat years. I mean, Nathan, the horror of being in Tiger Beat is something that very few people understand.

We'll have to endure happily. Yeah. I'm sure there's a club. You have meetings. We all have jackets that match like the Masters or something. You know, we all get a green jacket. Perfect. Well, anytime I can put your name up for inclusion. Yeah. No, I'm past my prime now for the Handsome Men's Club. Nonsense. Oh, yeah. Look at this. I'm just looking at all these names. We could talk about F. Murray Abraham.

F. Murray. F. Murray. Yes. So, okay. So it isn't just me. Who is it? So F. Murray is a thing, right? Because I've heard that for years. F. Murray. I don't know whether he's made that joke or I, yeah. We did a Terrence McNally play called It's Only a Play on Broadway and a play that he had written many, many, many,

many years before uh that was what it was called broadway broadway starring geraldine page and jimmy coco and it closed out of town to disastrous reviews ironically because the play is about an opening night and the play gets disastrous reviews so um he did a revision of it and it was done off broadway successfully in the 80s but

Frankie and the original Frankie and Johnny. He started it with Kathy Bates off Broadway. You know, he's famous for bringing his Oscar to let the vibes come off of it. Yeah. He brings his Oscar. So he brought the Oscar. And can I tell you something? This Oscar looked like it had been through a lot. You know, like it was like an old hood ornament. I once saw Tatum O'Neill's Oscar. Yeah.

from Paper Moon. And I had the same reaction. Do they not take care of them? Or is it just something that happens to all of them? You would think, why aren't you taking care of your Oscar? It was dented and like some of the gold had worn off. But

He he brought it and he put it on the set and, you know, left it there. I mean, I would be a little more protective of my if I had ever gotten lucky enough to get an Oscar. Let me ask you a question. Which do you think is more of a statement bringing your Oscar to lunch or or when you have people over and you have an Oscar?

It's used as a doorstop in the bathroom. Maybe using it as a doorstop or something or, you know, that it's so unimportant. And I remember Bill Irwin telling me that Murray brought his Oscar into a lunch with Robin Williams and Steve Martin. That takes balls. That's amazing.

To let the vibes roll off or whatever, whatever his, you know, the mojo. So it was literally, he says this is for the mojo. Well, I guess that he thinks it'll bring us luck. For him, it's like a shamrock.

His Oscar. It's like it'll bring a rabbit's foot, but it's an Oscar. He should chain it to his belt like we did in the 70s with the rabbit's foot. My good luck charm, my Oscar. Someone told me that Frank Langella...

had a way to guarantee a standing ovation every night. Have you ever heard this? Did he? I bet he did. I don't know if he can get one right now, but yeah. This is the Nathan Lane that people want. This is what the people have come for. So I tried it. I heard about it and I tried it and I didn't really have the balls to commit to it. So what it is, is this. And so you come out, you're Franklin Jello and the audience is applauding and you do the move of like,

Oh, oh, oh, yes. You're out there. But right. That one. But but then they're shocked. You're shocked. You're shocked about the applause. But then you you then it's very, very important. The physicality of it.

You gesture with both arms to the audience like, oh, you, you people. This is amazing. Oh, my God. Like you're giving it up to them like, oh, and then and this is the move. Both arms are out. Now you raise your arms like this and they stand. That's very good. Yes, that's that's a real old school gesture.

Manipulation. There was a wonderful old character actress, Mary Wicks, who did a... A friend of mine, John Glover, did a play with her. Oh, I did a movie with John Glover. I love John Glover. Great actor. And so they were doing, I don't know, O'Casey's The Plow of the Stars, and Mary Wicks, she would come in in the middle of the play, and he would open the door, and she would say...

Oh, it's so good to see you. And she started. And sometimes she also was known for putting her hands behind her back and clapping. But that was her way of initiating entrance applause. One of the things I learned about London versus Broadway, they don't do entrance applause in the UK. That's right. It's like a tradition in the theater. It's like, you know, a nice round for the for the set.

The curtain goes up on a nice set and they applaud. They do. Oh, I've seen them applaud a set. I said to people when I said, as you understand, I come from America, audiences applaud the scenery. That's right. But I do think standing ovations are like, it's like inflation. They've been so devalued in our culture. But if you get one in London, I did 100 plus performances. We got

Maybe 10. And it was a massive hit. Huge Thunder's Rapture, but a standing ovation? That should be like an upper deck home run.

Yes, I well, they did. I have to say, because, well, it's also seven and a half hours. We did Angels in America at the National. We got they said, don't expect standing ovations. And I said, OK, no, I won't. And then people stood, you know, because. Well, that's because the play is so monumental. One of my great regrets is I have I have not been able to see a production of it ever.

No, it's as good as it gets. That's right. Mr. Lane, this has been a fabulous... I could talk to you all day. There's so much more to go over. So we'll have to do... We'll do a part two at some point. I would love that. Please give my love to your beautiful wife. Let's find ourselves on the boards one day, Mr. Lane. I would love that. Well...

If I've taken anything away from this talk is that I need to bring my SAG award to lunch. I also have a E-Channel Golden Hanger award for best outfit on a red carpet from 2003. It was given to me by the late Joan Rivers.

Maybe I can bring that. If I was at lunch with Murray Abraham and he put the Oscar in front of me, I'd be like, yo, golden hanger. That's my takeaway from this interview with Nathan Lane. All right. You know what time it is. It's time to check the lowdown line. Hello. You've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-5705.

4-5-5-1. So have at it. Here's the beep. Hi, Rob. This is Christy from Spokane, Washington. Big fan. Parks and Rec is my favorite show. I read both of your books during the pandemic, and I just love your stories, your humor, and

just how self-deprecating you are. Really enjoy the podcast and you as a person. So my question is, are we ever going to see you do a comedy stand-up tour? I feel like you did at one point. I could be mistaken, but I would love to see you on the road at a city near me to maybe share more of your stories that sometimes seem...

So crazy to be true. They are. And yeah, so that's my question. Keep up the good work and I love everything you do. Thank you. Oh, thank you. I love everything about you. And I don't even know you. That's very nice. Lots of good compliments in there. And I can never have enough of those. So, yeah, you you kind of intuited what my one man show stories only tell my friends live.

is if I had the balls, I would just say it's standup because it's stories for sure. But I think people come away from it going, that was funny. It's like a lot of laughs in, in, with COVID, um, that put a halt to it. But I was doing, I, there was a, there was about two years there where I was probably doing two shows, two or three shows a month.

in while I was also shooting my TV projects and that's starting to come back as all things are but I'm I'm so busy I'm doing 911 Lone Star the two podcasts and my new Netflix show so that's how in between the travel that that part is taking the back seat but I'm gonna revive it when I can for sure and hopefully I will bring it to a town near you because I love it I love being on stage and

being with people and just relating. And it's exactly what you think it's going to be. So I'm excited for you to come and hopefully I'll see you soon. Goodbye, everybody. I will. I'll see you next week on literally with me, Rob Lowe. Bye-bye.

You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced by me, Rob Schulte, with help from associate producer Sarah Begaar. Our coordinating producer is Lisa Berm. Our research is done by Alyssa Grahl. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Joanna Salatara for Team Coco, and Colin Anderson at Stitcher. All of the music you hear is by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week on Literally with Rob Lowe.

This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.

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