Nathan Lane has spoken fondly of how Robin Williams "protected him" from discussing his sexuality on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996. The actor, 67, had been appearing on the show alongside Williams to promote their LGBTQ+ comedy The Birdcage - which focused on gay Miami nightclub owners Armand (played by Williams) and Arnold (played by Lane), who must put on a false straight front when meeting their son's new fiancé and her Conservative right-wing Senator father (played by Gene Hackman). In the flick, Arnold transforms from a gay drag queen to a woman to save his son from the "embarrassment" of having two dads. The comedy movie was discussed when Lane and Williams promoted the movie on The Oprah Winfrey Show. [[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y46JSmjcpeM]] Now, Lane has told Sunday Today that he'd told Williams beforehand that he didn't want to discuss his sexuality during the show, and that the Mrs. Doubtfire actor had assured him he would have his back. "I said to Robin beforehand… 'I'm not prepared to discuss, you know, that I'm gay on national television. I'm not ready,'" he revealed, via <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/nathan-lane-robin-williams-oprah-winfrey-b2307990.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Independent</a>. "And so then, of course, she [Winfrey] was like, 'How come you're so good at that girlie stuff? Are you worried about being typecast?' And then Robin sort of swoops in and diverts Oprah and goes off on a tangent and protects me because he was a saint," Lane added. The Modern Family actor was also quick to maintain that he didn't believe Winfrey was intentionally trying to out him in any way, but he had feared that this may have been the result had he been left to answer her questions. <img class="wp-image-1263202702 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/E3P5P3-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1755" />[[imagecaption|| Nathan Lane and Robin Williams pictured on set of 1996's 'The Birdcage'. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy]] Lane isn't the only celebrity to have recently shared memories of Williams - who sadly died by suicide in 2014 aged 63, and was part of many childhood favorites, including Mrs. Doubtfire, the Night At The Museum trilogy, and Flubber. Williams struggled with depression and had been <a href="https://vt.co/entertainment/sally-field-hates-that-robin-williams-isnt-here-anymore-he-should-be-growing-old-like-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease several months before his passing</a>. Jurassic Park legend Sam Neill has also recently remembered Williams - with whom he appeared in Bicentennial Man - <a href="https://vt.co/entertainment/sam-neill-says-robin-williams-was-the-saddest-person-he-ever-met" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in his new memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?</a> In it, Neill recalls the strong bond they formed on the set of the 1999 family movie. "We would talk about this and that, sometimes even about the work we were about to do," Neill writes, adding that Williams "was irresistibly, outrageously, irrepressibly, gigantically funny." Though, Williams evidently had a side many fans never saw, as Neill also described him as being "the saddest person I ever met." "He had fame, he was rich, people loved him, great kids - the world was his oyster. And yet I felt more sorry for him than I can express. He was the loneliest man on a lonely planet," Neill said, stating that he remembers Williams seeming "inconsolably solitary, and deeply depressed." While he could sense the darkness Williams kept inside, he apparently changed to a happier version of himself "once he swung open the door" of his trailer. <img class="wp-image-1263198834 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2023/03/williams-featured.jpg" alt="" width="1535" height="800" />[[imagecaption|| Neill recalled that Williams was 'the saddest person I ever met'. Credit: Collection Christophel / Alamy]] Williams' Mrs. Doubtfire co-star <a href="https://vt.co/entertainment/sally-field-hates-that-robin-williams-isnt-here-anymore-he-should-be-growing-old-like-me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sally Field also spoke about him recently</a> while on the red carpet for the SAG Awards, at which she received a Lifetime Achievement Award. "There isn't a moment of [Mrs. Doubtfire] that's not filled with my love and joy at being in his presence. I mean, Robin was Robin. He was everything he seemed to be: a generous, loving, sweet, geniously talented man," she recalled. "We all miss him," she then added. "He should be growing old like me, for God's sakes. I hate it that he isn't here." <h6>Featured image credit: NurPhoto SRL / Alamy</h6>

Nathan Lane says Robin Williams 'protected him' from coming out during Oprah interview

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