NATHAN LANE
On going from plush toy to action figure. Plus: farting.
Are you talkin’ to me?
Well, I certainly hope so. If I’m not talking to you, then why are you talking like Robert De Niro?
Do you feel lucky, punk?
I do feel lucky and grateful because John Logan, who created and wrote Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels, thought of me for this part. It came out of the blue, and it was a real gift. I don’t think anyone else in Hollywood would have given me this part except John, because we know each other from theatre in New York. He specifically cited this production of The Iceman Cometh I had done, which was what sparked his writing of this for me.
Why so serious?
Well, I would say if people only knew me from Modern Family, Penny Dreadful will be a revelation! If you were bored and happened to be following my theatre career, it might not be quite the surprise. But certainly in film and television, it’s the most emotionally complex character I’ve ever gotten to play.
How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?
At my advanced stage, I was delighted to be involved in several action sequences, and have a stunt double. When they were taking photos, at one point they were saying, “Keep turning, keep turning…” I said, “What is this for?” They said, “Your action figure.” I started laughing. I never would have imagined. The closest I’ve come is Timon in The Lion King, but that was a plush toy. This is an action figure. So that’s very, very exciting for me.
We all go a little mad sometimes, haven’t you?
[laughs] Oh, that’s a good quote, how appropriate. Well, we’re all going a little mad nowadays. This is extremely difficult and unprecedented. If you don’t start structuring your days in some way, you think, “I’m going to vacuum like crazy today.” And the next thing you know it’s 5pm, and you haven’t done anything. But it is a really good excuse for all those times where you said, “If I only had the time, I would finally read Moby Dick.” And now you can. Now you can find out what the White Whale was all about.
‘THE CLOSEST I’VE COME TO HAVING AN ACTION FIGURE IS TIMON IN THE LION KING’
What’s normal, anyways?
We’re all heading into the new normal. Really, every day, I wake up thinking, “How are we going to figure this out?” – especially in terms of film and television production. Theatre has really been screwed; I don’t know how we gather large groups of people together. Film and TV will be the first to try to get back to something that is hopefully safe. But I don’t know how you do that, again, with a show like Penny Dreadful, with a huge tapestry and different storylines that interconnect.
Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?
I would bet good money that that was an improv, because Carrie was a wonderful writer, and was very often brought in, sometimes just to punch up scripts and add some humour. It’s sort of a distant cousin to Addison DeWitt saying, “You’re too short for that gesture.”
Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
Have I ever! I came of age in the ’70s, sure I danced with the devil in the pale moonlight. That sounds like it’s either from some sort of horror movie or The Crucible [laughs]. It’s very poetic for a comic-book movie.
What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?
[laughs] Well, you know, that was an adlib of mine. Ernie Sabella, who played Pumbaa, and I, we auditioned for that film when it was still called The King Of The Jungle, and we were reading for the three hyenas. Ernie and I went in and did a little improv, and then they came back to us many months later and said, “We’re developing these two other characters, and we’d like you to play them. It’s a meerkat and a warthog.” We were doing a revival of Guys And Dolls on Broadway at the time, and they wanted us to bring that sort of musical comedy energy and Damon Runyon feel to these creatures, so we were encouraged to improvise from time to time. One of the funniest things was, we would be brought in early in the morning to start these recordings, and I would be very tired. To make me laugh, Ernie would make long fart noises, as we were talking. Eventually, it inspired them to make the warthog flatulent. They even used it in the song ‘Hakuna Matata’ and it became a classic! JF
ETA | 1 JULY / PENNY DREADFUL: CITY OF ANGELS AIRS ON SKY ATLANTIC AND STREAMS ON NOW TV THIS MONTH.