So interesting to hear Nathan Lane remember how Robin Williams swooped in to protect Nathan from being outed before he was ready during the promo tour for The Birdcage in 1996. Here's the moment when it happened, and Nathan reflecting on it almost 30 years later:

The context is that Nathan was out to friends & family (and had been for years) but there was a big difference between than & talking about it in front of millions of strangers. So for awhile, he talked around the issue, like in this interview. But then...

...a few years later, after the murder of Matthew Shepard, Nathan realized he could use his public platform to help people. So ... he did, and started speaking openly about being gay in 1998. He took gay roles, he gave interviews, and he was, in general, a great gay role model.

Here's Nathan Lane in 2015, receiving a Making a Difference award & quoting two other great, inspiring figures. One is Bette Midler, who said that if people don't like what you're doing, "fuck em!" The other is Harvey Milk: "Burst down those closet doors ... and start to fight."

And! For more of this story, I've got a whole video about the making of The Birdcage that also touches on how Nathan's life changed after the film came out. (It's an hour long but the Nathan stuff starts around 51:05):

For all you Robin Williams fans (which is to say, everyone on Earth) here's a little clip of him talking about how fond he was of Nathan. Such a sweet funny guy.

Imagine being in a situation where the only way you can save the day is to improvise a hilarious comedic tangent on the spot, and also you are *Robin Williams.*

“Don’t make me come out there.” Genius.

When Robin Williams died, I cried. He’s the only celebrity that I felt an emotional loss to. He was my childhood. He was brilliant. He was kind. He was like a real life Peter Pan in some ways, with that certain spark. Bangarang

This is amazing, you can see Robin glance at Nathan while he’s causing distraction as if to say “don’t worry, I got this”. The man was an absolute saint, gone too soon.