Robin Williams helped actor Nathan Lane when he came out as gay: “He went on to protect me”

The two actors co-starred in the 1996 film 'The Birdcage' Nathan Lane has said that Robin Williams helped to “protect” him when he was deliberating whether to publicly come out as gay in the 1990s. The star stage and screen actor starred alongside Williams in the 1996 film The Birdcage , where they played a gay couple. At the time, he chose to keep his sexuality private, before officially coming out in 1999.

And now Lane has used an acceptance speech at the Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television event to discuss the support he received from his friend and co-star. “I had expressed my fears beforehand to the late, great Robin Williams,” he said. “He kindly said to me, ‘Don’t worry, Nathan, you don’t have to discuss it if you’re not ready’.

” Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in ‘The Birdcage’ (Photo by Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images) “And he went on to protect me whenever he could, throughout the awkward moments,” he added. Lane has spoken before about confiding in Williams , particularly around the time of The Birdcage . Speaking about an interview with Oprah Winfrey at that time, Lane said: “I don’t think Oprah was trying to out me.

I said to Robin beforehand, ‘I’m not prepared. I’m so scared of going out there and talking to Oprah. I’m not prepared to discuss that I’m gay on national television.

I’m not ready.’” Lane explained that the interview ended up veering in that direction, though Williams came to his aid and ma.