NATHAN LANE — on doing R-rated ‘Golden Girls’ in new Hulu show and being a Broadway icon
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My dive buddy just kind of started like whacking me underwater and then he didn't know how to tell me that there's a shark so he's trying to scream shark and then eventually he just went with singing the Jaws theme tune.

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Hi, it's Jesse.

Today on the show, you know him from the hit film The Birdcage, On Stage and the Producers, and his upcoming TV show from the creators of Will & Grace, Mid-Century Modern. It's Nathan Lane. This is barely a podcast. This is just, we're having dinner. Yeah, but we're going to talk about so many things. Okay, all right. This is Dinners on Me, and I'm your host, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. ♪

I think Nathan Lane hates it when I say this, but he is such a hero of mine. And my love affair with him and his immense talent—and let me just stop there. I can already hear him listening to this saying, Love affair? Love affair? Jesse, I had no idea. But my love affair with him and his immense talent began long before he played Pepper Saltzman on Modern Family, a role which earned him three Emmy nominations, mind you.

♪♪

I would often see him across the room at fancy after-show hangouts like Bar Centrale or Joe Allen's after one of his performances. He was always sitting with some Illuminary, Liza Minnelli or Elaine Stritch, Terrence McNally or Matthew Broderick.

He was a Broadway star in the greatest sense of the word, and my early years in New York City were filled with deep admiration for him as an artist. A career like his was one I dreamed of, and I was so excited to be working on stages at the same time as him in New York City. Never with him, but always adjacent. Now, in Modern Family, Mitch and Cam, played by Eric Stonestreet and myself, often referred to their good friend Pepper Saltzman as

And in the early days of the series, we always wondered with great anticipation when we would actually get to meet this character.

Now, our casting director, Jeff Brienberg, told us one day that he had cast Nathan Lane in the role, and I could not believe how fortunate I was. At long last, I was going to be working with one of my favorite actors, Nathan Lane, on a television series. Now, listen, I never really let Nathan know just how much of an inspiration he was to me. I've since let all of that creep out, but in the moment when I first was working with him, I really needed to stay cool and professional.

The friendship I got to develop with him over the 11 years of Modern Family is one of the greatest things to come out of that experience for me. And seeing him continue to grow as an actor in more dramatic roles in both film and on stage has been so gratifying.

It might seem like after getting to know Nathan, the allure of him may have worn off, but it has been quite the opposite. I'm constantly in awe of the way he has navigated his career, and I am so honored to call him a friend. And yes, I still do dream of a career just like his. Now, right before we sat down for this meal, I was able to drop by Will & Grace creator Max Muchnick's home to watch the pilot of his new series called Mid-Century Modern that Nathan stars in.

And I left Max's home after watching the episode with a surprise offer to do a guest spot on the following week's episode. And of course, I said yes. It was such a joy to be on set with Nathan Lane again. One of my scenes was with Linda Lavin, who plays Nathan Lane's mother in the series. A few weeks after we shot my episode, Linda passed away very suddenly at the age of 87.

This episode of my conversation with Nathan Lane was recorded right before her passing, so it's not discussed here. But I really, I would love to just dedicate this episode of Dinners on Me with Nathan Lane to the memory of Linda Lavin. God, I was so lucky to work with her. I love you, Linda. And here we are with Nathan Lane. Well, this is proof that everyone in America has a podcast except me. I know, truly, truly.

I brought Nathan to Crustacean, which has been an iconic force in Beverly Hills for decades. Helene Anh, the matriarch of the Anh family, opened the restaurant in 1995 and became a national pioneer in Vietnamese fusion.

She and her family moved to San Francisco in 1975 as refugees, where her mother-in-law purchased her first family restaurant in what was an old Italian deli. Sixty years later, Helene's five daughters would also join the business, opening five more restaurants and building on 60 years of tradition. Hard work and good taste are at the heart of crustacean, and I couldn't wait to share a meal with Nathan here. Okay, let's get to the conversation.

I just came from Max's. From Max Muchnick. Yeah. My new best friend, Max Muchnick. Do you know this? I left with a job. It's a very funny part. It's a very funny part. It's been one of the...

happiest experiences I've ever had in show business. I'll just say, because we have just launched right in, but mid-century modern. Mid-century modern. Which is a multi-camera sitcom, which has not been done, really a new one hasn't been done in quite some time, I don't think.

I guess it's like... I don't know. Well, there's Reba McEntire. Right. I guess there's a few that... Would disagree. But we're on Hulu. We're doing sort of an R-rated... It's very R-rated. Longer form... So Max Muchnick... Max Muchnick and David Cohan, who created Will & Grace... That's right. ...have created this. It's the same wit and smart humor as Will & Grace, but they're off the reins. The horse is off the reins. Yeah.

And he's able to do all of the stuff that they probably wish they could have done with Laura Grace. Yeah. It's sort of wonderfully nostalgic because it reminds me of the kind of situation comedies you grew up on. Yeah. And then...

And then it's just really outrageous and R-rated and sort of what... Well, yeah, and in many ways, and I think this was their template, but it reminds me a lot of Golden Girls. It's kind of like a gay Golden Girls. Well, that's how it was...

Pitch to you. Pitch to me. But it's... It's not, but that's... It's an easy way of saying it because the similarity is that my character, Bunny Schneiderman, who is a very successful and wealthy manufacturer of women's bras and has a chain of 53 stores nationwide called the Bunny Hutch. That's so good.

He lives in Palm Springs in a huge house with his mother, Sybil, played by the great Linda Lavin. And he has this core group of friends, and one of them in the pilot has died. His name was George.

And he, George, had dated Matt Bomer's character, Jerry. And so when we met Jerry, he was very young, which explains why he's a little younger. Why he's so young still. And then Nathan Lee Graham, who plays Arthur, the wonderful Nathan Lee Graham. And Matt Bomer. I think Matt Bomer is going to be the revelation for people because he's so funny in this as this kind of...

dim-witted sexpot airline steward. You know where I first met Matt Bowmer, just a side story? I had a friend who had just done a workshop of the musical Spring Awakening with him.

And was like, oh, I just worked with this guy. He's such a dreamboat. He's working his last shift at this restaurant on Avenue A and like 13th Street. He's like, we're going to go and like send him off and like one of his last tables. So that's how I met Matt. He was my waiter at the very last restaurant he worked at before going off to do his first soap opera.

But then I sent him a message when he won an Emmy for, what was it that he won for? For The Normal Heart, I think. He won the Golden Globe. The Golden Globe for The Normal Heart. Yes. Right? Yes. Yes. When he won for Normal Heart, I sent him a message like, I'm just so proud of you. I can't believe I've...

known you since your last day specials yeah exactly exactly no he's great oh he's wonderful the whole show is wonderful and it's directed by james burrows who's you know directed cheers and in taxi and will and grace and and started friends and it's it's just so good how do you like being on a multi-camera show again with an audience i forgot or it's the last time onkers on course

It was encore, encore. There was only one encore, baby. No one wanted two. Encores, encores. Encores, encores. No, it was just one encore both times. And no, the last one I did was with Jeff Richman, our beloved Jeff Richman, that with Laurie Metcalfe.

And T.R. Knight. I remember the show. And it was called Charlie Lawrence. That's right. It was briefly on CBS. I played a newly elected congressman who was a former actor who for years had starred in a film.

at a show like Touched by an Angel. And it was very successful. But no one would ever hire him again after being typecast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How are you doing tonight? I'm good. Great, how are you? Good. Welcome to Festation. Thank you. This is our drink list here. I might have a spirit-less cocktail. Well, you know, I also have a dinner after this dinner. Are you kidding me? No, I'm not. With who? I'm with the legendary two-time Oscar winner, Anne Roth.

Oh, the costume designer. She's a very close friend of mine and her daughter, Hannah and Max Muchnick. Oh, well, look at that. Well, then eat light, but have a drink. You make anything like a Moscow mule? We have a, we have our own version. Yeah. It's fantastic. Sure. I'll try that. Thank you.

Like literally, I had Kathy Bates on yesterday. We were talking a little bit about Terrence McNally and she really credited him to starting her career. And I know you've always kind of done the same.

you know lips together teeth apart and obviously lisbon traviata oh that was the one that was it wasn't lips together that was after but yeah that was after yeah don't second guess me about my own career about the things i've lived i know i know the chronological order i don't think so i think i do i just was talking about the one that i preferred well

Excuse me. Well, you played my part. I did play your part. During COVID on Zoom. During COVID on Zoom, I did. But Kathy was talking about, you know, how important Terrence McNally was to her with Frankie and Johnny. And she mentioned she had a big falling out with him.

She didn't stop speaking for like 18 years and then saw him at his 80th birthday and it was a big celebration. You were there as well. Anyway, they had a falling out and came back together. I can tell you about all of this. Yeah, yeah. But she said that, you know, you also, she's like, you should ask Nathan about this as well. Oh, sure. I've been through it too. Yeah, yeah. He was not unlike some of the characters he wrote. He was a passionate man and he was possessive of his actors. Ah.

And, yeah, if he could have kept us in a warehouse in Times Square and just brought us out to do his plays alone, he probably wouldn't have objected. You know, but that was Terrence. You know, he was so great. But, yeah, he was possessive of...

of the certain actors he used to refer to as there are McNally actors. Thank you. Cheers. Oh, thank you very much. Thank you so much. These are pretty gay drinks. Couldn't get any gayer.

Cheers. Cheers. It is so good to see you. And on a podcast. Oh, yeah. I haven't looked. No, I'll let you gentlemen know about our specials this evening. Okay. Yes, please. So at the top of the menu, the big blue box, we have our Ansem family tree. Now, Ansem is our play on dim sum or smaller bites. So it's a tree that comes out the table with five small plates. Tonight, it's going to have chicken satay.

crab puffs, coconut prawns, spicy yellowtail sashimi, and a mushroom ravioli topped with a sesame burf lung sauce and garlic lime foam. So it'll be one piece of each of those for the two of you. Our other various hot and cold starters will be directly underneath there. Nathan, do you want to... What about this tree thing? The what? The tree thing. It's five pieces. Would that be... Because I know you don't want to overeat. All right. Good. Does that sound okay? Yeah. And then...

You can bring me out the, what's like the entree that you feel like I should definitely try? The working salmon is going to be right here in the middle. I'll do that. That's great. Thank you. This is barely a podcast. This is just, we're having dinner. Yeah, but we're going to talk about so many things. Okay. All right.

Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Nathan tells me why they hesitated to cast him in Guys and Dolls and working with the magical Robin Williams in the 1996 film The Birdcage. Okay, be right back. This episode of Dinners on Me is brought to you by Nissan.

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And we're back with more Dinners on Me. I remember you getting angry at me because you said I was making you feel old, but one of the first Broadway shows I ever saw was Guys and Dolls. How old were you? I was a junior in high school, so I was probably like 17 or 18. Yeah. 17. Yeah. I came in 1993. I'll accept that. It's when they say I was 12. Well, no. It was right before I moved to New York. Really? And it...

Changed my life. It was I think I saw falsettos first and guys in all second. So that's a good combo. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was so fantastic I mean you and faith prints together incredible. I didn't realize that you actually named yourself after Nathan Detroit Because there was already a Joseph Lane and he is correct. I

I had played Nathan Detroit. I had done Guys and Dolls in a community theater as a kid. And then I had played Nathan Detroit in a non-equity dinner theater production, the Meadowbrook Dinner Theater in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, when I was 21. And then when there was a Joe Lane in Actors' Equity, the woman said, take some time, go think about it. And I said, no, just give me a few minutes.

And I sat on a little bench right across from where she was behind a window. And I had played Nathan Detroit, which I loved. And I had played Benjamin Franklin in 1776 in a summer stock in Chatham, New York at the Mack Hayden Theater. You did eight musicals in eight weeks. Yeah. I played Benjamin Franklin, of course. I was a kid. And...

I said, do I want to be Nathan Lane or Benjamin Lane? They're both great names, actually. And I said, I'll be Nathan, Nathan Lane. I mean, do you consider Guys and Dolls to sort of be the thing that sort of launched your musical theater career? Well, I had done a lot of musicals before, but it was such a, yeah, it was something. And it's such a great New York thing.

I mean, it's my... Did you audition for it? Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah. And he, you know, he was trying to find age-wise and, you know, put it together, the two couples. And I think there was some resistance because I'm not Jewish. And now, you know, I became an honorary Jew because I've played so many Jewish characters. Yeah.

So I pass, I guess. But then finally, Jerry Zaks was like, I don't care. We'll send him to Hebrew school. I don't know what. I think he's the funniest actor who came in for the part. That's who I think should do it. So that was I owe Jerry Zaks a great deal. Yeah.

And yeah, it was just magical. It was within Faith Prince, you know, that thing you can't predict, that kind of chemistry. And we were just on the same wavelength. I mean, you both were incredible. She was great. Yeah, you're both incredible. It's one of those theater experiences that's so vividly

ensconced in my brain. Like, I would love to go to Lincoln Center and re-watch it, actually. Well, I mean, and that, the Tony Walton, the great Tony Walton. Oh, I remember how candy-colored it all was. And all the colors in the... Gorgeous. Yeah. And it was like, I did that revival of On the Town shortly after, and I think they were hoping to embody sort of that same spirit. Oh, yeah. That old, old 1940s, 1950s Broadway musical, and with the color and just the...

You and Lea DeLaria. We oftentimes said if we could be half as good as Nathan and Faith were, like we've succeeded. No, I think was that maybe the first time I saw you? Probably. It was the first thing I did in New York, yeah. Just a little thing. And I remember I think the first time I met you was when you were doing Forum, because Mary Testa, who is your co-star in that, was in On the Town with me in the park.

when I did it and I think that you came to see her and that's the first time I got to meet you and I had seen Forum obviously and that was also such an incredible performance. I mean there was a point in your life where it was like every big musical on Broadway seemed to have you attached to it. Like Guys and Dolls, Forum, The Producers. I mean it was just like it was Nathan Lane everywhere.

I mean, did it feel that way? Did it feel like you were just going from like crazy hit to crazy hit? No. It didn't? That's what it seemed like to me. No. I mean, you know, you get a handful of those. Yeah. I mean, if you look at at least my, just the Broadway career, you know, of the 25 shows I've done on Broadway, seven were musicals. Yeah.

The ones that were hits, there were like three with the producers. Okay. Forum. And Forum was a success, but it wasn't like a gigantic success. You won a Tony of your first Tony for it. Yes. And it was right after the Birdcage had opened, and so that helped a little bit.

But the producers is really the one that was like, that was a phenomenon. It really was, yeah. So that's really, so if you want to, we could narrow it down to that. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks. I had heard, is this true? When you were doing the birdcage, I heard that...

Mike Nichols, let me see how that's right, made like a deal with Stephen Sondheim because he really wanted you to do the birdcage. Is this right? And like basically got Stephen Sondheim to delay the production of Funny Thing Happened on the Way of the Forum so that you could. No, listen, I'll tell the story. Fine, tell it. I'm just telling you what I heard. Well, you just, this is like we're on all that chat. Oh my God, I hate you. And you've.

I'll tell you what happened. What happened is... Okay, gentlemen, I have a treat for you. This is our king crab bonkot. Say that again? King crab bonkot. We have a crispy rice flour shell. It's going to be topped with Alaskan king crab, coconut bechamel cream, and royal kaluga caviar. So it's best to just eat it with your fingers down the hatch so you can enjoy it.

Oh, thank you. It sounded like the name of a porn film. Mmm. That's a souvenir. It's really good. Wow. I'll try to do this quickly. Okay. Although maybe I don't have to. It's up to you. You have a dinner. I mean, you're obviously going to be cutting a lot of this. Yeah. People are stopping by. We haven't even started recording. Oh, it's just us? No, no, no, no. These are just... No, these aren't real. No.

I'm so sorry. This is the pre-interview to see if we want to do a podcast with you. I am so sorry. Here's a coconut shrimp, buddy. Oh, good. I'll have one. Yeah, I'll have that. Take the sauce. Take the whole thing? Mm-hmm. The story is, while I was doing Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Neil Simon played...

One night, Mike Nichols and Diane Sawyer came to the show. And it was like, I can't believe I'm being introduced to Mike Nichols. You know, it was like God. And he came back. He had seen me in other plays, but he had never come backstage before. So that was highly unusual. And he said, I'd like to talk to you about a movie. I said, oh, OK, OK.

He said, can I call you tomorrow? And I said, yes. Yes, you can. I really wish you would. So...

He and Elaine May had wanted to do this for a long time, and finally the rights were available. Steve Martin couldn't get out of this other obligation. Robin decided that he had already done Mrs. Doubtfire. He didn't want to be in a dress again, so the other part would be the more challenging for him. Oh, interesting. So, pardon. You know, he included me in the process of its...

coming together in a way that I was just thrilled to be even considered and, you know, to be talking to them. You know, and then we did kind of a screen test so they wanted to see what I would look like made up as a woman.

And I had to sing, and it was a whole thing. You had to sing? Yeah, I had to sing in this sort of screen test I did. Oh, okay. It wasn't like a singing audition to see if you could sing. No, no, no. It's just they wanted me to just sing and parade around in evening gowns. So I would run into Mike, and he would say, oh...

Maybe Robin wasn't going to do it. So he said, what do you think of Billy Crystal? And I said, well, I love Billy Crystal. And then one, I was, we were at a benefit and he, he came over to me. This is Mike. And he said, um, Robert Redford. I said, what about him? Is he here as your husband? And I said, well, if you can work that, uh, all my dreams will be coming true. You know,

All very interesting ideas, but fortunately, you know, Robin agreed to do it. But then I got a call from Scott Rudin saying, you know, he's never going to make that movie. He's been talking about that a long time. That's not going to happen. And he said, you know, we're building this show around you, and here's the schedule. Funny thing happened on the way to the farm. It was going to be a conflict. So I had to turn it down. Turn down the birdcage. Yeah.

Imagine. Wow. I had to turn it down. I had to say no. Oh, my God. I said, I can't leave these people in the lurch. They've been building this whole thing around me. So I have to say I can't do it. I can't believe this. When I tell this story, even, I still don't believe this happened. So, again, I'm still doing laughter on the 23rd floor. And I get a call in the dressing room one night. And it's from he's in Ireland. Ireland.

Mike Nichols. And he says, Nathan, I keep seeing people. I met with Kevin Kline and I talked to this one and that one. And I just feel you're the guy to play this part. I said, Mike, I have no power. You're Mike Nichols. Perhaps if you called Scott Rudin, an agreement could be had and we could...

Try to work all this out. And then the next day, I had a call from Scott Rudin. And he said, you really want to do this movie? I said, well, why wouldn't I want to do this movie? I said, of course. It's a leading role and it's all of the best people in the world. I said, you realize we'll have to postpone for a year.

I said, I do realize that that's a huge thing and I don't take that lightly. And I said, I said, I did turn it down. I mean, I did my best. I really did. So and he said, OK. So I'm also incredibly grateful to him because.

That's why it all happened. You consider that your kind of big break in the film, right? In the film world? Sure, yeah. I think you were on set with us doing an episode of Modern Family when the news of Robin Williams' passing came in. I feel like I was with you. Really? I think so. I remember talking to you about it and...

I think foolishly asking if you'd ever worked with him or if you'd ever gotten... And you're like, well, I did play... I was in the Bird Cave. I was like, of course you were. I mean, what was it like? You know, I mean, obviously, I got to meet him briefly. You know, he was a movie star. You know, he could have said, I want Billy Crystal or somebody, another big movie name to do it, to do the film. I know they showed him, like, the screen test, you know, and...

He didn't know who the hell I was. And he was like, yeah, absolutely. But, you know, he was just, as you've heard, incredibly generous and sensitive and kind soul and very, you know, and we were sort of kindred spirits in a way. He was just so wildly funny and brilliant and comic genius and a wonderful actor. And, you know, we always had that.

bond from that film. It was, you know, I hadn't, I did a thing for the New Yorker Festival and they showed a scene from it and I hadn't seen it in a while and I hadn't seen it since he had died and I just, you know, I just started crying. You know, that scene at the bus stop where he

you know, gives you the, the palimony. Yeah. Yeah. See, I'm getting emotional. He has the palimony agreement and it's my favorite scene in the film. And it's so sort of Robin just, you know, being so simple and true and, and just, you know, I, I remember, um, I had to, there was a musical number I had to do in the nightclub of, um,

The Sondheim song. Sondheim had written songs for it, and then Mike didn't use any of them. But I sang in the club, Can That Boy Foxtrot? And I did the whole number with the crowd in the club. And so he had a day off while I was doing that. And he came in for the day to be there. I said, why are you here? It's your day off. He said, I want to be here for you. I want to support you in this.

Wow. You know, he was just, it was very special. It was a very happy time for everybody. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Nathan talks to me about the pressure of coming out publicly as gay, becoming a Ryan Murphy darling, and developing the voice of Timon in The Lion King. Okay, be right back.

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And we're back with more Dinners on Me. What was it? I mean, did it feel... I'm asking this as someone who's obviously played a gay character in a different time, but did it feel being gay yourself at that moment? But not necessarily being out, because I know you weren't going to come out publicly until a few years later, but you were out to your friends and family, and did it feel...

I don't know. Scary to play a part like that on film? No, no, no. No, it was a great part. Yeah, fantastic role. Just a great part. No, I didn't think about that. I didn't think... Honestly, because I've been out since I was 21 to my family and everybody. But being out and then being a public figure and coming out, it's a whole other thing. Yeah. Yeah.

I didn't, I literally didn't really think about it. And I, you know, I was, you know, the movie, I had, I got a publicist, Simon Hall. And he said to me, what do you want to do? This is just before this junket, where the junket is about to start. He said, what do you want to do about your sexuality? I said, not that it's too late.

It's code.

Which is, you know, you might as well have said. And by the way, I love the cock. Yeah, yeah. It's like bringing your mother to the Oscars and saying, I'd rather not talk about my personal life. Yeah. You know, it was sort of pointless. But, you know, it was all overwhelming anyway. I never...

been in that position so i don't know it's like it's still thought it's people still think about it but everyone's fluid now right everyone's you know right you know it doesn't matter it's so we can be fluid what well i carry a lot of water weight i don't know if you know this so i've i've always been fluid yeah i'm 90 fluid but i did say to us us magazine said you know

"Are you gay?" And I said, this is how long ago it was, I said,

I'm 40, I'm single, and I work a lot in the musical theater. You do the math. What do you need? Flashcards? But for some people, that wasn't good enough. I had to be in the swimsuit competition as well. A notarizer. Yeah, absolutely. What did you just say? You need a notarizer there. I need a notar republic. Yeah, notar republic. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, you know, but... Witnesses sign here and here. Yeah, I know. Nobody had cared before, but, you know, that was that part, the nature of that part, and the success of the film, and then, you know. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you. I'm great. No, I'm perfect. Thank you. Yes. When you were doing Modern Family...

You, which you were nominated for three Emmy Awards for. Is it true that you are the most nominated comedy guest actor in the history of the Emmys? Nathan, that's really cool.

That's really cool. I mean, there are certainly people with more nominations than me, but in that category, yeah. Eight nominations in the guest... That's unbelievable. Well, yeah. Well, technically, it's seven nominations in the comedy category and one in the drama guest, but in the guest actor category, yeah. It's incredible. Yeah. When you were doing...

with us on Modern Family. You were also doing Angels in America at the same time. Was I? Uh-huh. I remember you were exhausted. I just remember, yeah, going out the first time to do the first one. Uh-huh. I remember that with the earthquake. The earthquake. Yeah. I have a photo of us from that because I didn't know if, like, you would decide to come back or not. I was like, I'm getting my photo with Nathan Lane now. Yeah, I have a picture of Yumi and Eric and I think Chris Lloyd all together. He's so...

Really, the writers on that show, they maintained the quality of that writing. It was always so funny and smart. You were incredible on it. So I'm in the middle of Monsters. I mean, it's so well done. Yeah. You know, it's interesting when you're talking about Terrence McNally talking about a group of actors who he really...

holds deer and would lock them into a warehouse and use them all the time if he could. Ryan Murphy's very much the same way. And you were definitely in that camp with Ryan Murphy. Well, now, sure, I had, when we did, I loved doing People vs. OJ. But then I wasn't asked to be in anything else after that, so I thought, oh, well, I didn't make the cut. And then this past year, he, you know, with Monsters and

and now mid-century modern, which he's also a producer of. You know, I feel like he's... Well, he's become my guardian angel. No, I'll just stick with the latter. Thank you. You know, for my third act. So...

Yeah, I'm very grateful to him. You also have this incredible career as a voiceover actor. That's a terrible way to say it. A voice actor. I happen to be in one really successful one. One of the most successful movies of all time. It created a franchise. Yeah. We just did at the Hollywood Bowl. We did the 30th anniversary concert with Jennifer Hudson and

Jeremy Irons. I love the stories of you and Ernie Sabella in the recording booth together because at the time you were doing Guys and Dolls. Yeah. And... It was an accident. Right. You know, I don't know what Ernie says. Ernie played Pumbaa, by the way. Yeah, played Pumbaa. Yeah. Yeah, but you can't believe anything Ernie says. But what happened was...

I was on a break. Anyway, to audition. We auditioned. He had gone in, and he was auditioning. And then he came out. And he was saying, you want to get lunch? I'll wait. And I said to them, you know, I'm reading for three hyenas. So I said...

Why don't I read with Ernie? He said, that'll make it more fun and more interesting and I'll have something, you know, because he was about, he was going to leave.

They said, okay. So we went in, and then we improvised and carried on, and then we left. And I thought, well, you know, that's not going to happen. And then they said, we're writing these characters. It's a meerkat and a warthog, and we're writing these for you two guys. So they hadn't even written these characters yet? I think they might have been talking about it, but now we're going to... They had a prototype. Yeah. And they're kind of the comic relief, and you'll, you know...

My God. She was great. And then when we showed up, and they showed us the drawings, and I said, well, what do you want them to sound like? And they said, well, you're doing Guys and Dolls right now. They should be like that, like Damon Runyon characters. And, you know, they said, you should be more higher pitched, and Ernie can be a little lower. So, you know, I became a New York...

Jewish Brooklyn meerkat. And he was doing, Ernie did a really interesting, because he kind of, it was a combination of the character actor, Wallace Beery, who used to talk like this. So Ernie kind of does that thing. It's Wallace Beery. And then the character actor, Michael Gotso, when he gets really, hey, raspy, hype, you know. Yeah. Yeah.

And then when we would go in, so we were doing Guys and Dolls doing eight shows a week, and we'd go in to record at, you know, 9, 10 in the morning. I was tired. I'd be drinking coffee and cranky. And Ernie would just, we'd start to do the dialogue, and he would just make fart noises. You know, just a lot of fart noises, and I would laugh.

And then they put it in the movie. They put it in, yeah. It was a very gassy war hog. That's why Pumbaa is flatulent. So good. And now then you get to do another animated film out on Netflix right now. It's Spellbound. Titus Burgess and I are oracles. He's the oracle of the sun, and I'm the oracle of the moon. He's Sunny, and I'm Luno. And we're very small, round people.

creatures and for some reason, you know, so it's written, my character was written with like a German dialect and Alan Menken on the demo tape sang it in an accent. And I said, is there a reason why, is he German or what's happening here? And he said, no, we just wanted to differentiate between the two.

So that's why I'm talking like Ludwig von Drake. So, yeah. Yeah, they're like a... They seem to be a couple. Yeah. The oracles. They live together in the forest. It's like Bert and Ernie. In a mushroom house. Yeah. It's like the Bert and Ernie of the oracles. Yeah, that's right. Something's going on. They make garlic bread and lasagna and giggle a lot. Yeah. Listen...

Even in your animated shows, there's going to be a little bit of gay in there. I'm so happy you did this. Is that it? Is it over? Pretty soon. Yeah. Oh, well, you seem to be gathering your things. I just picked up my glasses. Okay. Well, you know, I'm just checking. This episode was recorded at Crestation in Beverly Hills and is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Linda Lavin.

Next week on Dinners on Me, you know them from Broad City, Babes, and their new special Human Magic on Hulu, It's Alana Glazer. We talk about the crazy ride that is giving birth, how their friendship with Abbi Jacobson has changed after a successful show together, and how pregnancy helped them understand their relationship to gender.

And if you don't want to wait until next week to listen, you can download that episode right now by subscribing to Dinners On Me Plus. As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, you'll also be able to listen completely ad-free. Just click Try Free at the top of the Dinners On Me show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today.

Dinner Is On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and A Kid Named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Angela Vang. Sam Baer engineered this episode. Hans Del Schee composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Ballance-Kolasny and Justin Mikita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.

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