Nathan Lane shares the advice Robin Williams gave him before coming out as gay

Nathan Lane has recalled the advice given to him by Robin Williams about speaking publicly about his sexuality after their 1996 comedy film, The Birdcage.

The stage and screen actor, known to many for voicing meerkat Timon in The Lion King, mentioned late star Williams during a recent speech at the Critics Choice Association’s inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television, in honour of Pride month.


Despite Lane acknowledging that he was gay in his personal life, the actor did not share this with the public for at least a decade after being in the spotlight.

“I had marched in Pride Parades in the late seventies, but nobody had ever expressed interest in my sexuality,” said Lane in his speech, according to People.


Lane said that he had marched in the pride parades in the late seventies, but nobody had ever expressed interest in his sexuality.

In The Birdcage, Lane and Williams play a gay couple who attempt, through drag, to rebrand as a heterosexual couple when their son announces his engagement to the daughter of a conservative senator.

“I certainly wish I had been braver at the time,” he said, before looking back at a “playful” experience with Oprah Winfrey during which he felt he had to deflect from discussing his personal life.

“Like when Oprah Winfrey on her show asked me why I was so good at all that girly stuff in The Birdcage.