Hollywood.com: This is a great time in your career these past few years, how do you account for that? Are you surprised by this high success? Are you happy about it?
Nathan Lane: “It’s always great when people show up to see your work. I’m always happy about that. You know, everything comes in cycles in show business: there are times when at first they fall in love with you, and then they get sick of you, and then they love you again. Those things, it’s sort of a natural evolution in show business. The Producers is a sort of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of phenomenon, and I was very grateful to be a part of it. In terms of the theatre at any rate, I’ve been doing this for 30 years, so it’s an audience that has watched me grow up on the stage, really. And it’s sort of the one place that I know people will buy tickets, and it’s an important thing to be able to fill a theatre, because it gives you some choices in terms of your career.”
HW: When you heard about this film were you excited? How did you approach it differently from the stage?
Lane: “Well, Mel [Brooks] first mentioned it while we were recording the cast album, even though we don’t say that any more. And you know, I like joked with him and said ‘Danny DeVito and Ben Stiller will be great in the parts.’ And then eventually, really thanks to the success of Chicago, it did finally happen. And it’s unusual for the person who originated the part on stage to do it on film, and so I was very grateful and thrilled to be able to do that, because it’s a great part and great parts are hard to come by. And, as probably has been mentioned, the major difference is that there’s no audience, and you have to let go of that, because it’s a very audience-driven show. And it’s just going back to basics, as you would with any movie. Obviously there’s a familiarity with the material and a comfortable feeling of you know this character very well. But it’s the same sorts of problems and obstacles, and also you’re just wanting to give Susan [Stroman] some choices. The material demands a kind of size and theatricality, and you have to honor that, and say here’s the St. James Theatre version, and here’s the independent film version, and here’s something in between.”
HW: Your own success and the prior film’s kind of loomed over you when doing this film version, was that ever on your mind? Did you think of doing it differently with the film version?
Lane: “I mean, that’s always there–Gene [Wilder] and Zero’s [Mostel] performances. The show itself had enough new material, we felt like we inherited these roles, and then it started to feel like our own roles after a while, because there were a lot of things that we got to do that was all new. And you know, there’re inevitable comparisons. Either some people will accept that, and some people won’t. There’s nothing you can do. You have no control over that. No one admires those performances more than myself. You just try to live up to the material and do the best job you can and whatever people say, they’ll say. But it’s great fun to finally put it on film.”
HW: Can you talk about the chemistry between you and Matthew? How do you work so well together?
Lane: “It’s the sex. It’s what’s kept us together, and we never go to bed angry.”
HW: Did Matthew surprise you when you first met him. And does he still?
Lane: “[Laughs] Yes, yes he does. The first time I met him, I think was the premiere of The Lion King and we had done voices in it, and we didn’t work together, but I think we met. He’s shy–he’s not unlike me, he’s a little shy–and I think we both thought we hated each other, but we just are too shy to really talk. And then I met him a couple of times socially, but just to say hello to, and then it was really when this project started to happen that we actually got together and had a dinner and talked. But it was just one of those things, it’s just luck really, that you hit it off with someone, and there’s this so-called chemistry, and it’s just a mutual respect and admiration, and I think a similar sense of humor, and it just really worked out.”
HW: Are there any plans to transfer your current stage collaboration, The Odd Couple back to film or television? And are you looking for something else to collaborate on?
Lane: “No, no one has talked about a film of The Odd Couple. And no, we have no plans. We would like to see other people, I think, at this point.
HW: How was the performance different for you in the film?
Lane: “The difference is really that it’s you’re lip-synching. There was some live singing, but they used very little of it, and it was only here or there, a line or two, but essentially that had to be lip-synched. So obviously it’s not as strenuous as doing it eight times a week in a theatre. But again, you’re doing it in bits and pieces, and you don’t have the freedom you have when you’re on stage: whatever the pre-record was, those are the rhythms you have to stick to. And lip-synching is a whole art unto itself. They used to have lip-synching classes at MGM. It’s a whole thing, and there’s someone monitoring your lips.”
HW: Can you talk about Mel’s sense of humor?
Lane: “Mel’s sense of humor – well, it’s influenced generations. He’s a comic genius and an adorable human being, and I’m very glad we came into each other’s lives. He’s one of a kind: there’s nobody like Mel Brooks. I went to see the movies, and listened to “The 2000 Year Old Man,” and he was a huge influence and a hero. And so to get to work with him was extraordinary. We had met once before, he and Anne [Bancroft] had come to see me in a play, and then I was on a vacation and I got in the pool, and the two people in the pool were Anne and Mel. And we chatted, and then she went upstairs, and he said to me, ‘You know, I’m working on a musical of The Producers, I think you’re the only person to play Max Bialystock.’ It was sort of like a dream: it doesn’t seem real. You just kind of go ‘Oh, well, that would be great, that would be an honor.’ And then a couple of years later it happened. I can remember seeing the movie for the first time at a revival house in L.A. and laughing with everyone else, and never imagining that I would be doing that one day – even though by then I had already memorized the entire movie. He loves this show. It changed his life and it was one of the happiest times in his life, as he has said to me. So he loves the theatre, and it sort of revitalized him in a way, just going to work every day, collaborating with people. The live audience, all of that, he always loved the theatre. I mean, it really was a delight to see him that happy and tickled by this experience.”
HW: How did the misconception that you used to be Jewish and changed your name come about? Do you still hear about it?
Lane: “The story is that my real name is Joseph Lane, and when I joined Actors’ Equity there was already a Joe Lane, so they said you have to change your name, and you can change your last name or your first name, which was traumatic at the time. They said you can take a few days to think about it, and I said ‘No, just give me a minute.’ And I had played Nathan Detroit in dinner theatre in New Jersey, and I liked that name and that character very much. So it was either gonna be that or Benjamin, as I recall, because I liked playing Benjamin Franklin in ‘1776.’ So I said ‘I’ll be Nathan Lane.’ And I’m an honorary Jew and I’ve played many Jewish characters. All the best people are, really. But I really do feel Jewish [laughs], even though I’m a Catholic. But the way the church has been behaving, I’m happy to be perceived as Jewish. I’ve played a lot–Nathan Detroit, and Sid Caesar, and Max Bialystock. It’s been a great part of my life.”
HW: Do you find it bittersweet that while you’ve received the most acclaim for your stage work, it will be your film work that will live on for future generations to see?
Lane: “You can’t really preserve a stage performance, because those things they film for the Lincoln Center archives always look terrible. A videotaped stage performance is just – you know, it’s never gonna be the same as it is if you’re sitting there live in the theatre. I don’t really think about posterity that much. Yes, it’s true, the nature of the theatre is it lives on in people’s memories and then it’s gone. [laughs] I don’t know, I doubt there will be a big film retrospective for me. What are you gonna do? You can’t have everything.”
HW: With your success in other entertainment mediums, you never really scored on television. How was your experience, and would you try it again?
Lane: “Television? You saw the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan? It’s not as much fun as that. So I don’t think – No, I wouldn’t. I’ve done a couple, and one in which I allowed the people–they were very successful and I said I’m just gonna be the actor and you’ll produce. And then one in which I was very much involved. You know, honestly, I don’t know what that is about television. Maybe it’s not for me. I always thought it was, actually, I thought it would be a fun, and it seemed like it would be a good venue for me, because it was similar to the theatre. It was like doing a little one act play every week. But it was pretty nasty, people were pretty brutal about it. I don’t know why, honestly, I don’t know why I get beaten up. It’s all right for George Clooney to do 40 TV shows before ER. No one said anything about that. But I did two and it was like ‘Oh, here he comes again.’ So f**k it, I don’t need it. It would have to be something really great, and they said ‘Would you like to be in it?’ and here’s a great piece of writing. But no, I don’t have any plans to go back to television.”
HW: Any character you have a burning desire to play?
Lane: “Joan of Arc.”
