The Producers star Nathan Lane says that “homophobia is alive and well” in Hollywood and that being an out gay actor cost him roles.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lane said that his breakthrough film role in the 1996 comedy The Birdcage, in which he played a flamboyant drag queen in a long-term relationship with Robin Williams’ club-owner, failed to lead to a significant movie acting career, reporting that his then agent told him: “Maybe if you weren’t so open about your lifestyle, it would have.”
Lane added: “I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but I can’t help but think that [homophobia] played a part.”
As an example, Lane said he was up for a role in the part-animated basketball comedy Space Jam (also released in 1996) and said he was told “the director [Joe Pytka] saw me hosting the Tony awards and thought that suggested I was too gay to play the part”. In the end, Wayne Knight (who played Newman in Seinfeld) was cast in the film. “But I don’t know. I’ll never know what people say. Homophobia is alive and well still.”
Lane added that his early career success in theatre may have reinforced homophobic attitudes towards him. “There’s always … that ‘He’s from the theatre’ thing. It’s either homophobia or it’s just, ‘He gives big performances because he comes from the theatre.’ If they give me a chance, I seem to do well – but you have to get the part. You need a part to prove that. I gave up long ago trying to pursue it.”
Lane also said he was “grateful” to Ryan Murphy, whose advent allowed him to play major character roles in TV shows, including journalist Dominick Dunne in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and defence attorney F Lee Bailey in The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story. He added: “Before I die, it would be lovely to get to play a juicy, serious supporting role in some film.”
