Nathan Lane

But I could always find the dark cloud in any silver lining.

I was flattered but troubled by the word entertainer.

But I appreciate it.

But he found me entertaining.

Oh, I'm funny to you?

I'm funny to you?

Well, there was no threat of violence.

I just felt I was more than just an entertainer.

I saw myself as an actor now having been doing this for 50 years.

I may have been entertaining, but I was acting in all of those pieces, whether it was musical or straight play.

It got me thinking and so I thought, gee, is that how people perceive me and I feel like I have more to offer as an actor and maybe I have to challenge myself and also challenge the audience and see if they're willing to go on that journey with me.

I wonder if I can shift that perception.

So I thought, how can I do this?

And I have no power in film or television, but in the theater, I have a little bit.

So I happened to read an interview with Brian Dennehy, a very old friend of mine, the late, great Brian Dennehy, and Robert Falls, his collaborator.

in theater.

And they were discussing that collaboration.

And at one point, they wondered whether they would revisit The Iceman Cometh.

And Dennehy had done it in 1990 with Bob and very successfully.

And he was thinking of playing the other character, Larry Slade.