On Hulu’s new comedy series “Mid-Century Modern,” longtime screen and theater actor Nathan Lane brings a familiar effervescence to his swishy character. Like his iconic turn as Albert in “The Birdcage,” he embodies Bunny with the exuberant flair of a diva hitting the high note of a showstopping number — each step a flourish, every gesture a work of art.
But during a recent video call, when I asked Lane about his impromptu moves — sometimes a shuffle, sometimes a glide (and sometimes, of course, in a kimono) — he genuinely seemed surprised by the fact that he was moving at all. It’s as if Bunny simply takes over him without effort. “Was I?” he asked, grinning. In that moment of unguarded charm, it became undeniable just how much of Lane’s performance might be effortlessly natural rather than meticulously crafted.
This sense of authenticity permeates the show itself, particularly in its poignant exploration of gay loneliness and the concept of chosen family within the queer community. Bunny’s emotional epiphany in the pilot serves as a defining moment that anchors the entire series. After watching his closest friends Jerry (Matt Bomer) and Arthur (Nathan Lee Graham) navigate their relationship, Bunny confronts his own status as the “unluckiest in love” among them.
“I thought long and hard about it, and then right before you came here today, it became obvious to me,” Bunny tells them, teary-eyed. “I have found the love of my life. It’s you two. This friendship is my love story.” Then, in true multi-cam sitcom fashion, the punchline lands: “Yes, it’s sexless and annoying, but what long-lasting love story isn’t?”
In “Mid-Century Modern,” Lane’s Bunny is the blueprint for what aging gracefully as a gay man can look like — close friends and all. Opulence in Palm Springs in your 60s? Absolutely. The show reminds you that nothing’s off-limits.
Beyond ‘The Golden Girls’
The premise of “Mid-Century Modern” — three friends navigating life’s complexities, along with Bunny’s mother Sybil (played by the late Linda Lavin, who died in December, while the show was in production) — was initially pitched as a gay “Golden Girls.” When I spoke with Lane, it was clear he didn’t want to draw too many comparisons to the legendary sitcom — after all, the original is in a league of its own.
Still, camaraderie, humor and affection were at the heart of what creators David Khan and Max Mutchnick, who brought “Will & Grace” to life 27 years ago, envisioned for Bunny, Jerry, Arthur and Sybil. As Kohan put it, Rose, Blanche, Sophia and Dorothy weren’t meant to be a “point of departure.”
“It was a shorthand,” he said. “The comparison was only as a way to say, it’s kind of like this, but it’s not this. It has those elements, that sense of camaraderie. Men of a certain age, a mother in the house. But that’s where the similarities ended, and it was not our intention to do that. It just sort of worked out that way.”
Some viewers aren’t just seeing a relationship between the two sitcoms — they’re seeing one between Bunny and Albert in “The Birdcage.” Lane told me they’re at least different enough to not be the best of housemates. “I don’t think so,” he said about whether they could live together. “Albert’s too conservative for Bunny.” He added with a chuckle, “They might be kind, but I’m not sure they’d ask him to move in.”
While Bunny and Albert’s dynamic may be more unlikely, Lane acknowledged that “The Golden Girls” paved the way for pushing boundaries in primetime TV. And in today’s streaming era, there’s even more space to get edgy. Lane suggested that the “G-rated” trailer misrepresented the series’ raunchy bawdiness, knowing that the actual show, he said, is more like “an R-rated, outrageously gay multi-cam.”
“I hope that this show does what ‘Will & Grace’ did for the community. I hope that this show bolsters the LGBTQ+ community and takes care of them and makes them feel like they have a voice.” Max Mutchnick, creator
From the very first scene, the show establishes how Kohan and Mutchnick dive right in without hesitation. At their friend’s funeral, after Bunny feigns sobbing, Arthur delivers a zinger: “You don’t look sad. You just look like a reluctant bottom.”
“It was liberating,” said Kohan about the freedom to be edgier. “I mean, because on ‘Will & Grace’ you always said, ‘OK, here’s what we want to say. Now, how do we say it in a way that’s acceptable?’ And here we just say it.” Mutchnick added that the jokes now have the ability to “end up on TikTok, and hopefully open a door for a new generation of people that want to watch multi-cams.”
One suggestively hilarious scene features Bunny and his pal Carol (Richard Kind) at a bar called Fisty’s. Together, they reminisce on Bunny’s romantic chases, including one nicknamed “Prolapsed Pete.” “I hate to think what time and gravity has done to that guy,” Bunny quips.
“There was a lot that didn’t make the cutting-room floor,” Lane said about that scene, acknowledging that it was particularly difficult to get through filming some of the more explicit jokes without breaking character, especially those containing colorful language.
“One of the many gifts of this experience has been making Nathan Lane laugh and watching him enjoy getting new words on show night has just been totally thrilling,” said Mutchnick. “We also brought Prolapsed Pete back at one point, and it was Nathan Lane that stopped it. He likes to say that it’s the two of us that defang these episodes, and it really isn’t. It’s a group effort.”
As for the trio of Lane, Bomer and Graham, Mutchnick said the friend group began with Lane in mind from the early stages of writing. Ryan Murphy pitched the idea to Lane while the actor was playing journalist Dominick Dunne in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” another Murphy production. “He was kind of our muse throughout the process,” Mutchnick said.
For Bomer, 47, working with Lane, 69, presented a special chance to work with a personal teenage hero. “I remember one of the first scenes I did in high school is from ‘The Lisbon Traviata.’ People were like, who is this kid? What is this 14-year-old doing right now? He’s just been hugely formative to me, and he’s so generous of spirit as an artist.”
On set, Bomer said Lane “helped me find my voice as the character and set a beautiful tone for all of us on the set that was loving and fun and joyful, where we could laugh at ourselves and take risks in front of each other and fall on our face in front of each other and shine in front of each other. It was just the kind of gift you dream of. Sometimes it takes 30 years to get there, but then there you are, and it’s not lost on me.”
Political resonance in challenging times
Lane added that it’s a “good time” for this kind of show, but joked, “I have no idea if Donald Trump will try to have it taken off the air along with MSNBC and CNN.”
At one point during our interview, Lane spoke more directly about his concerns: “The gay community, immigrants, we’re all going to have to fight for everything.” The weight of current political realities hangs in his words. “It’s hard to believe it’s only been seven weeks, and it’s already more destructive than I imagined,” he continued, referencing the rapidly shifting landscape under the new Trump administration. Yet even facing uncertainty, Lane’s optimism persists: “People are fighting back. Judges are stepping in, saying, ‘This is illegal.’ There’s a glimmer of hope.”
This raises the question — is “Mid-Century Modern” a political show? Kohan and Mutchnick are reluctant to draw explicit connections, even in this political climate, instead inviting viewers to interpret for themselves. Still, one episode, called “Love Thy Neighbor,” tackles a timely occurrence: how to approach your neighbor when that individual is a Republican congressperson endorsing harmful anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
“We were encouraged to move away from politics,” Mutchnick said. “People are going to come to the show to not think about politics. And then it really came down to a question of, how do we make this sort of inclusive? How do we make it so that there’s not this unbridgeable gulf between these people, but that there’s actually an understanding?”
Still, he added, “I hope that this show does what ‘Will & Grace’ did for the community.” That landmark series helped normalize gay characters in American homes during the late 1990s and early 2000s, contributing to shifting attitudes about LGBTQ+ acceptance. “I hope that this show bolsters the LGBTQ+ community and takes care of them and makes them feel like they have a voice.”
From ‘The Birdcage’ to now: Lane’s enduring impact
Though Lane has been an indelible part of the entertainment world for decades — and an inspiration to many gay men who were coming of age in the ’80s and ’90s — his legacy in LGBTQ+ representation traces back to one of his most iconic roles in the 1996 hit “The Birdcage.” When our conversation inevitably turned to this pivotal film, which cemented Lane’s place in cinema history, he acknowledged that “it was, in some ways, ahead of its time.”
The film, a remake of the French classic “La Cage aux Folles,” brought to life Albert, a character whose flamboyance and vulnerability transcended the stereotypes often relegated to queer characters at the time. Lane’s portrayal of Albert, a campy yet deeply human figure, didn’t just provide comic relief; it opened doors for more nuanced and joyful portrayals of LGBTQ+ people in mainstream cinema. Would we have “Mid-Century Modern” on one of the biggest streaming platforms without it?
“At the time, it was a great success,” Lane recalled. “I think it was [director] Mike Nichols’ most financially successful, and he wanted a commercial success, for sure. But it had a mixed reaction. But I would say it stood the test of time, and there’s not a day that goes by that people don’t bring it up to me and want to talk about it. Every day somebody brings it up.”
With the expertise of someone who’s lived inside the story, Lane traces the film’s lineage from the French “La Cage aux Folles” with actors Jean Poiret and Michel Serrault to finally becoming the screenplay that would introduce Albert — and Lane — to a wider audience.
Lane spoke with particular fondness about two pivotal scenes added for the film adaptation. “They’re two of the most crucial scenes,” he noted. The first: Albert’s poignant moment on an oceanside bench, devastated at the thought of life without his partner. “It’s about their love story,” Lane explained simply. Lane described the second addition — where Albert appears in a conservative dark suit but can’t help wearing bright pink socks — as “a beautiful scene.” These moments, where vulnerability and authenticity peek through societal constraints, capture the heart of what made “The Birdcage” revolutionary.
“There was a lot of criticism from the gay press at the time. Now, of course, they write pieces about it, calling it groundbreaking.” His laughter carries a hint of vindication: “Sometimes it’s just about survival,” he said, almost as if he is actually Bunny, settled into Palm Springs in a flowing kimono and maybe even some bright pink socks of his own, relishing the view. “If you hang around long enough, people start to think you’re wonderful.”
