Nathan Lane Documentary Explores His Storied Theatrical Career

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Lane's relationship to the character of Willy Loman is at the forefront of the film.

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Three-time Tony Award-winner Nathan Lane , currently on Broadway in Death of a Salesman, will serve as the subject of a new documentary from filmmaker Matthew Miele, Deadline reports.

The feature film will chronicle Lane's decades-long stage and screen career, culminating with his role as Willy Loman in the ongoing production of Arthur Miller 's award-winning play. Instead of a traditional chronological approach, the doc will tell Lane's story through his evolution and legacy in the theater and the ongoing relevance of theater itself, with the character of Willy at the forefront.

It will also include new interviews from fellow theater artists, including The Producers co-star Matthew Broderick , Tony Kushner , Jean Smart , Laurie Metcalf , George C. Wolfe , Ann Roth , Mel Brooks , Mike Birbiglia , and more. Additional details on the project are forthcoming.

“There are very few performers left who carry within them not only extraordinary talent, but the living memory of the theater itself,” said Miele. “What fascinates me is not simply documenting a remarkable career, but capturing a man who has spent decades absorbing the language, history, rhythms, heartbreak, humor, and mythology of Broadway and American theater. Nathan doesn’t just perform within that tradition, he understands it deeply and embodies a necessary bridge between generations of playwrights, actors, directors, and audiences.”

Miele's previous projects include Henry Benson: Shoot First, Last Night in New York, and Bob Mackie : Naked Illusion.

Lane made his professional theatre debut in 1978 in an off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Nathan Lane (Willy Loman) made his Broadway debut in the 1982 revival of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter as Roland Maule (Drama Desk nomination), directed by and starring George C. Scott .

Followed by Merlin, The Wind in the Willows, Some Americans Abroad, On Borrowed Time, Guys and Dolls (Tony nomination, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Producers (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards and the Olivier Award in London), The Play What I Wrote, The Frogs, The Odd Couple, Butley, November, Waiting For Godot (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Addams Family (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations and the Drama League Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award), The Nance (Tony and Drama Desk nominations, Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League Distinguished Performance Awards), It’s Only A Play, The Front Page (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), Angels in America (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards), Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, Pictures From Home, and the Goodman Theater production at BAM of The Iceman Cometh.

He has been seen Off-Broadway in many plays and in 1992 received the Obie for Sustained Excellence of Performance, including Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Common Pursuit, The Lisbon Traviata (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel Awards), Lips Together, Teeth Apart, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Obie Award), Measure for Measure directed by Joe Papp ( St. Clair Bayfield Award), The Film Society, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, She Stoops to Conquer, Trumbo, and Do Re Mi at Encores.

He has also received the John Willis Lifetime Achievement Award from the Theater World Awards, the Hal Prince Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drama Desk Awards, the Sondheim Award from the Signature Theater, and the Eugene O’Neill Monte Cristo Award.

On television, he has been seen in numerous guest roles including “Frasier,” “Mad About You,” “Sex and the City,” “30 Rock,” “Absolutely Fabulous,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Difficult People,” and “The Blacklist” as well as recurring roles on “The Good Wife” and “Modern Family.” He received critical acclaim as F. Lee Bailey in “The People vs. OJ,” Det. Lewis Michener in “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels,” and as Dominick Dunne in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” He was most recently seen as Bunny Schneiderman in “Mid-Century Modern,” Ward McAllister in “The Gilded Age” and as Teddy Dimas in “Only Murders in the Building” for which he received his first Primetime Emmy Award after a record breaking eight nominations in the guest actor category.

He has also received two Daytime Emmy Awards and the People’s Choice Award. He has appeared in 40 films, including Ironweed, Frankie and Johnny, The Lion King, The Birdcage, Mouse Hunt, Stuart Little, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Nicholas Nickleby, The Producers and Beau Is Afraid. He has received two Golden Globe nominations, an American Comedy Award, a SAG Award, and a Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2006 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2008 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.

Fresh off his breakout turn on HBO’s The Gilded Age, Ben Ahlers is stepping onto the Broadway stage for the very first time- and doing it in one of the season’s most talked-about revivals. Ahlers checked in with BroadwayWorld to tell us about about his journey in the show so far, living up to the hype, and so much more.

Nathan Lane recently visited Late Night with Seth Meyers to discuss his turn as Willy Loman in the hit revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Watch the interview, where he spoke about the intimate and cinematic nature of the new production, which is running at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Pulitzer-winner Caroline Shaw is the composer behind the affecting score of Broadway's new production of Arthur Miller's masterwork, Death of a Salesman. Watch the video.

The cast of Death of a Salesman, including Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Christopher Abbott and Ben Ahlers, joined MS Now's Morning Joe on Tuesday to discuss the new Broadway revival of the celebrated Arthur Miller play.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Nathan-Lane-Documentary-Will-Highlight-the-Theatrical-Legacy-of-Stage-and-Screen-Star-20260528)._