As far as he can remember, Nathan Lane wanted to play Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s seminal drama Death of a Salesman. The New Jersey-born stage and screen star was 10 years old when he saw Lee J. Cobb — who originated the role in the very first Broadway production in 1949 — play the titular salesman in a filmed-for-television production that aired on CBS in 1966. “Even then I was affected by it,” Lane tells Gold Derby in the latest episode of our Awards Magnet podcast. “You can read it a thousand times, but you can’t even begin to understand it until you’re standing there doing it.”
Naturally, Broadway wasn’t quite ready for a 10-year-old Willy Loman back then. But the play followed Lane as he followed his passion for performing. He made his own Broadway debut in a 1982 production of Noël Coward Present Laughter and scene-stealing film and television roles eventually followed, culminating in his breakout role in 1996’s The Birdcage opposite Robin Williams.
Appropriately enough, that’s around the time that Salesman came back into his life. While working with Joe Mantello on a mid-’90s production of Terrence McNally’s Love! Valour! Compassion!, Lane remembers the then-novice director telling him: “Someday, I’m going to direct you in Death of a Salesman.”
“Joe says himself that he doesn’t know where that came from,” Lane adds with a laugh. “It was maybe a premonition of some kind! But I always remembered it and we would reference it from time to time.”
It took 30 years, but “someday” is now. Mantello and Lane are both Tony-nominated for their acclaimed revival of Death of a Salesman, which his been playing to sold-out crowds since its April opening night. This is Lane’s seventh career Tony nomination and could be his fourth win. The show itself is the most-nominated non-musical production of the 2025-26 Broadway season with nine nods, including Best Play Revival.
In our expansive Awards Magnet conversation, Lane discussed the demands — and the delights — that come with slipping into Willy Loman’s skin eight times a week. He also reflects on the 30th anniversary of The Birdcage and the 25th anniversary of the Broadway blockbuster, The Producers, and makes a pitch for how the latter could return to Times Square: put Jack Black in it.
Watch our latest episode of Awards Magnet above or listen along on your podcast platform of choice. And be sure to send your thoughts, voicemails, and favorite Mel Brooks movie to awardsmagnet@goldderby.com.
