“Thank God”: the movie Nathan Lane was thrilled he didn’t have to make
We hear of actors who have missed out on roles that they regret for the rest of their lives, but every so often, an actor misses out on something that makes them go ‘Phew!, like iconic stage and screen actor Nathan Lane, who has often lamented his lack of big-screen roles, but there’s one film he was thrilled he didn’t have to make in the end.
Although Lane has been famously, happily out and proud since 1999, he has still managed to have an illustrious career, especially on the stage, and believes being so openly gay and working in theatre had an effect on his work. “I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but I can’t help but think that it played a part,” he told Vanity Fair, “I was told it did impact a movie that I didn’t really care about: Space Jam.”
Lane explained that he was up for the part of basketball player Michael Jordan’s assistant in the 1996 Looney Tunes meets the NBA film, but he lost out to Wayne Knight of Seinfeld fame. “Apparently, the director saw me hosting the Tony Awards and thought that suggested I was too gay to play the part,” Lane told the magazine.
It’s difficult to know where to begin with this ridiculous incident, but it’s important to point out that Lane wasn’t even publicly out at the time. Plus, there’s the fact that, you know, his literal job is to play a different person, so just as straight men can, and more often than not do. play gay men, a gay man is more than capable of pretending to be straight, especially considering Lane had been doing just that in public life for a long time.
It would be more than reasonable to be outraged by this prejudiced decision, but Lane’s response was much more humorous, as he exclaimed, “So, thank God, I didn’t have to do Space Jam”. While the film was a commercial success and was one of the first of its kind to mix animation and live action, it wasn’t exactly an easy sell at the time.
We’re used to this idea now, and it seems like every other movie is just a great actor alongside a CGI character nowadays, but back then, this was new territory, and most actors weren’t overly keen. After all, Bill Murray was only convinced when Michael Jordan asked him personally to take the part.
Not to mention the fact that in the same year, Lane ended up starring in The Birdcage, alongside Robin Williams. The film was far more critically successful than Space Jam, had much more credibility to it and was a commercial success, so, of course, he was much happier to appear in what marked his breakthrough on the big screen. Plus, the film also launched a touching friendship between Lane and Williams.
However, despite his relief in avoiding Space Jam and his joy at landing The Birdcage, Lane makes it clear that his path to stardom was still mostly barred along the way due to homophobia. “The Birdcage came along. I thought perhaps because of the success of that, it’d lead to other films, but then it didn’t,” he said, “It really didn’t”.
He’s clear that it wasn’t easy for him and that “homophobia is alive and well still”, but he’s hopeful that he’ll still catch that big break with a “juicy” leading role. Here’s hoping along with him!
