Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
By the way, did you see the video of Trumps hair in the wind?
It blows it all away, this facade of hair, and its revealed that theres absolutely nothing there.
I couldnt think of a more perfect metaphor for whats happening than that.
Nathan Lane does nothing halfway, whether its in a restaurant or the rehearsal hall.
To me, theres nothing more thrilling.
He recalled a conversation from many years earlier with Kenneth Branagh.
Therell be people who carp and ask why a comic actor is playing this part.
Who gives a shit?
So thats what he did.
We pull the rug out from under you.
Falls was equally delighted.
And seeing him in Terrence McNallysThe Lisbon Traviata that was a profound moment for me.
AfterIceman,everything seems easy, and youll never be quite the same, Lane says.
Its the same thing Tony does.
Hes somebody the other characters who are fictional would recognize.
To Kushner, Nathan Lane seemed like a great idea.
Hes the right age.
Being a gay actor would be useful.
And the fact that hes one of the funniest people in the world doesnt hurt.
Hes always brought a degree of emotional depth and complexity.
Hes not just A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.
Theres a well, a reservoir, that I think Nathan draws upon.
Lanes childhood was indeed difficult, in a specifically ONeillian way.
His father drank himself to death when Lane was 11, and his mother suffered from manic depression.
And the latest impossible mountain hes climbing is named Roy Cohn.
That served him excellently as a lawyer for John Gotti and the young Donald Trump.
As Lane put it, Cohn was a really smart guy.
And Trump is not a really smart guy.
I certainly think that was instilled in him by Roy.
Back when Cohn was tutoring Trump, Nathan Lane moved to New York.
I find that experience has always been the best teacher.
Also working with great people.
Observing, watching them in action.
Hed see plays whenever possible, second-acting them when he couldnt afford tickets.
I used to love that just grab a program someone had dropped and walk in.
In those days they werent so strict.
I saw a lot of great shows that way when I was a starving actor.
In the beginning, he worked odd jobs, conducting phone surveys and delivering singing telegrams.
You know youve hit a new low when accordion players are heckling you!
because I was making them laugh.
Like some old vaudeville outfit.
Thats eventually why I decided to try my hand at stand-up.
I thought there must be something to this.
He formed a doubles act with the actor Patrick Stack and took it to Los Angeles.
He was hilarious in it.
This is it, baby!
I guess Ive made it!
Im lucky to have survived, he says.
It was a terrifying time.
Im a living artifact.
Its great, I think, for people to be reminded of where we were then.
Its unbelievable, and all because of fucking Roy Cohn.
you better bring technical mastery and emotional commitment at the same time.
Hes really exploring in Perestroika what it means to die, Kushner says.
Its very shocking, the moment when his voice changes from one act to the next.
You just hear his major weapon, his greatest instrument, beginning to fail him.
His voice, his ability to talk.
And thats just stunning.
It isnt all just technique, however.
People have said to me, Its very upsetting to watch.
And I have to admit it, its very upsetting to do, Lane explains.
You have to let this thing happen, and its just awful.
But I think its important to see.
Its awful to watch anybody go through it, even a prick like Roy Cohn.
Hes a vile human being, but hes still a human being, somewhere in there.
Cohns dying interview, for60 Minutes,which Lane watched again and again for research, is tragic.
He could have done something great, says Lane.
He could have said, Im gay.
Yes, its a horrible disease; yes, I have AIDS.
Go ahead, tell the truth for once.But he couldnt.
It just wasnt in him to do that.
Can I tell you something?
Just between you and me andNew YorkMagazine?
Nathan Lane leans in and beams, speaking directly into my recorder:I love being Roy Cohn!
Tech is when the play goes away.
Cohn is sick, slumped in a chair like his insides have crumpled.
Yet theres a ferocity in the set of his jaw, a determination to win at all costs.
I didnt know you could act clamminess, but there you go.
He knows the rage that Cohn can unfurl.
To Pace, this scene is one of the most important in Joes journey.
I cant, he says.
Lane nearly throws away Cohns response (Oh, well, apologies).
He should be doing Falstaff.
He should be doing King Lear, because he just has such an ear for complicated language.
The scene halts, and Lane looks up and out at the house.
Its hard to concentrate, he says softly.
Elliott runs onto the stage to give Pace notes while the lighting team makes adjustments.
At first I think,Ah, now, I will see Nathan Lane at rest.But no.
Sitting in the chair, his eyes scan the house, checking the sight lines.
Those people way, way, way up there in the last row?
I used to be one of those people, students or whoever.
Lane nods and then theres that look Ive come to recognize.
Hes about to tell a joke, and its gonna kill.
Youre not dead, boy, youre a sissy.
He doesnt mean it in a mean way.
Everyone laughs, but a moment later, when the scene restarts, the genial good humor has vanished.
Theres Roy Cohn again, summoned forth by Nathan Lane, just as devastating and devastated as ever.
