Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Guest: Nathan Lane – On Returning to Broadway in ‘Pictures from Home’ & a Storied Career

Original Air Date: September 28, 2025
Episode Focus: A deep, open-hearted conversation with Broadway, film, and TV legend Nathan Lane about his return in the play Pictures from Home, his upbringing, decades of beloved and challenging roles, coming of age personally and professionally, and why theater still matters to him.

Episode Overview

Willie Geist sits down with triple Tony Award and newly minted Emmy-winning legend Nathan Lane, now appearing in Pictures from Home at Studio 54. The episode blends Lane’s reflections on his 40-year career, including formative struggles and triumphs on stage and screen, with insight into the emotional and universal themes of his newest play. Lane’s signature wit and candor add warmth to stories of resilience, artistry, and the evolving landscape for queer actors on stage and screen.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Reflections on Pictures from Home and Broadway (03:15 – 19:27)

• 25th Broadway Role: Lane jokes about his career milestone—25 starring roles on Broadway—remarking, “I think I get a Rolex from Actors Equity. I'm not sure what the prize is for hitting 25.” (03:26)
• Eight Shows a Week: Lane describes the physical and mental rigor of stage work, saying he’s “ready to throw in the towel” but quickly backtracks, crediting the discipline required, “You have to live like an athlete.” (03:44)
• COVID During Rehearsals: Lane recounts how he, Danny Burstein, and Zoe Wanamaker all got COVID early in rehearsal, joking, “I was like Typhoid Mary and I gave it to them…and the sound designer got it.” (04:33)
• The Play’s Core: Lane is deeply moved by the story of photographer Larry Sultan documenting his aging parents: “You're dealing with parents and watching them get older, and it's sort of funny, sad...all at the same time.” (05:31)
• Universal Family Themes: Lane boils down the play’s complex memory structure and parental relationships: “Anyone who has parents, anyone who is watching their parents age, it deals with mortality, it deals with so many little things about life that we all wind up going through, whether we like it or not.” (10:38 – 11:10)

Approaching the Role & Craft (11:18 – 16:39)

• Portraying a Real Person: On not resembling Irv Sultan physically: “We’re never going to look like them … It’s not about that.” (13:01)
• Audience Engagement: Lane describes the play’s unusual direct address and breaking of the fourth wall, creating intimacy with the audience—sometimes unnervingly.
• Theater Demands: About the schedule: “Eight shows a week is rigorous for everybody unless you’re 25.” (17:00)

Personal History & Early Years (21:08 – 27:09)

• Challenging Upbringing: Lane discusses his father’s alcoholism and death in childhood, his mother’s bipolar disorder, and being “the parent to my mother when my father died.” (21:18 – 23:52)
• Escaping Through Theater: He tells a poignant story about admitting at age 10, “I am not a sportsman,” to his well-meaning brothers, and finding a place on stage instead. (24:16)
• First Theatrical Role: Lane recounts being forced into a college play as a child—the spark that ignited his passion for performance. (25:21)

Rise to Broadway (27:10 – 34:38)

• Career Path: Lane details his unconventional route—abandoning college, working summer stock, struggling as an actor, forming a comedy duo, and landing his Broadway debut alongside George C. Scott, whom he calls “electric on stage.” (29:31 – 32:13)
• Origin of ‘Nathan Lane’: With his real name already taken, he adopted his stage name from Guys and Dolls’ Nathan Detroit—a part he later starred in on Broadway to great acclaim. (32:34 – 33:51)
• Still in Love with Theater: “Guys and Dolls is my favorite. There’s nothing better.” (34:23)

Joys & Challenges of Iconic Roles (34:39 – 44:15)

• Tony Wins & Inspirations: Lane describes the emotional impact of his first Tony, seeing his idol Phil Silvers perform: “I was led into the theater and then they closed the doors on my two friends and I was put into standing room.” (34:43 – 37:22)
• On ‘Angels in America’ and Roy Cohn: He shares how deeply he researched Cohn’s illness and persona, striving for humanity beneath the monstrosity: “I wanted the audience to see the frail human being underneath the monster.” (39:06 – 43:07)
• Love of Language: “If you love language, which I do...these things come along rarely, so it’s a privilege.” (44:23 – 45:08)

Crossover Film & TV Success (45:08 – 58:38)

• The Lion King Accident: Lane reveals he and Ernie Sabella were cast as Timon and Pumbaa after letting their improv chemistry shine in an audition “for three hyenas.” (45:29 – 46:50)
• The Birdcage: The classic almost starred Steve Martin in Lane's role; Lane describes its impact on culture and young gay people: “It’s such a great comic plot ... even homophobic people liked it.” (48:00 – 51:29)
• Coming Out in the Spotlight: Lane recounts his fear of public scrutiny after The Birdcage, including a famous Oprah interview where Robin Williams “swoops in and diverts” pointed questions. (55:33 – 56:14)
• Emmy Win: He laughs about finally winning for Only Murders in the Building: “The silent episode. All these years, the Academy just wanted me to shut up.” (57:26 – 58:38)

Upcoming Projects and Looking Ahead (58:49 – 61:12)

• A24 Projects: Talks about the Ari Aster film Beau is Afraid (“a nightmarish comedy … the Jewish Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and “Identical Twins,” a wild queer musical.
• On Future Broadway: Unsure if he’ll return immediately: “Maybe I’ll come back. Maybe I won’t.” (61:17)

Backstage Tour & Observations on Theater Culture (61:33 – 78:01)

• Studio 54’s Intimacy and Memories: Lane shares personal stories from past productions at Studio 54, including a hilarious Samuel Beckett anecdote of someone desperately escaping during Waiting for Godot. (61:53 – 62:59)
• Modern Theater Audiences: Lane humorously vents about distractions—cell phones, candy wrappers, water bottles—and the changing etiquette of Broadway audiences, noting “Now the mob has taken over,” but ultimately says, “You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them.” (64:28 – 67:59)
• Why He Loves Stage: Lane finds the ephemeral, communal nature of theater thrilling: “No one’s editing your performance. It’s the purest form of acting. … It still happens in the so-called legit theaters, people come together.” (71:16 – 74:01)
• Love-Hate With Audiences: “Ask anybody. Judi Dench. It’s a love-hate relationship.” Lane shares stories about sleeping audience members and waking them up with a blanket and coffee—always finding humor, even in exasperation. (75:26 – 77:43)

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On Mortality and Family:

  “Anyone who has parents, anyone who is watching their parents age, it deals with mortality...little things about life that we all wind up going through whether we like it or not.”
  — Nathan Lane (11:09)

• On Stage Discipline:

  “You have to live like an athlete to take care of yourself so you can be there.”
  — Nathan Lane (04:09)

• On Roy Cohn:

  “What I wanted was to show that I wanted the audience to see the frail human being underneath the monster.”
  — Nathan Lane (39:06)

• On The Power of Comedy:

  “People just love the movie because it’s funny and that's a way of...disarming. That’s how you draw people in. Even homophobic people liked it.”
  — Nathan Lane, discussing The Birdcage (51:19)

• On Coming Out in the Spotlight:

  “I just wanted to do good work and I wasn't ready to discuss my sexuality, my personal life. … No one had ever been interested in my personal life until that moment. So it was shocking.”
  — Nathan Lane (56:39 – 57:09)

• On the Communal Experience of Theater:

  “No one's editing your performance. … It's that communal experience that they're trying to get back into movie theaters, but it still happens in the so-called legit theaters...that people come together.”
  — Nathan Lane (71:16 – 74:01)

Memorable Moments

• ‘Typhoid Mary’ of COVID: Lane wryly jokes about spreading COVID in rehearsal and the entire crew catching it. (04:33)
• Refusing to Look Back: On passing 25 Broadway shows, Lane says, “You try not to look backwards. You try to look forwards and say, what's next?” (03:26)
• Comedy as Comfort: The story of Lane’s childhood realization (“I am not a sportsman”) and how his brother encouraged his theater pursuits, showing family as both struggle and salvation. (24:16)
• Audience Antics: Lane’s stories of sleeping audience members and his inventive stage responses—serving coffee, wrapping up a blanket—underscore his comedic spirit even in the face of frustration. (77:10 – 77:43)
• Enduring Joy: Lane’s affection for the unpredictability of live audiences, and how every night offers a fresh challenge and reward, no matter the outcome.

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |--------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 03:15–06:02 | Play intro, role on Broadway, COVID rehearsal story | | 08:10–11:18 | Themes of Pictures from Home & universality | | 21:08–26:23 | Nathan Lane’s childhood and early theater experiences | | 27:10–34:38 | Career beginnings, Broadway debut, origin of stage name | | 39:06–44:15 | Playing Roy Cohn in Angels in America | | 45:08–48:00 | The Lion King, voice casting stories | | 48:00–56:14 | The Birdcage and public coming out, Robin Williams | | 57:21–58:38 | Winning an Emmy for Only Murders in the Building | | 61:33–63:34 | Backstage at Studio 54, set description, audience tales | | 64:28–67:59 | Theater etiquette and audience stories | | 71:16–74:01 | On the thrill and purity of stage acting | | 76:28–78:01 | Stories of sleeping audience members |

Tone & Takeaway

The conversation is intimate, honest, and frequently hilarious, marked by Lane’s sharp wit and Geist’s genuine admiration. Lane oscillates between gratitude and exasperation, nostalgia and introspection, candor on personal topics, pride in his art, and a playful annoyance with modern distractions. The overall feeling: live theater remains Lane’s truest home and still has the power to connect and move both actor and audience in a way nothing else can.