Nathan Lane lost Space Jam role because director thought he was 'too gay'

Nathan Lane has claimed he lost out on a role in the 1996 sports comedy Space Jam because the director thought he was "too gay".

The Producers actor revealed to Vanity Fair that he was up for the role of Stan Podolak, Michael Jordan's publicist and assistant, in the Looney Tunes-starring movie but the director Joe Pytka thought he was "too gay" to play the character.

In the interview, Lane cited the film as an example of homophobia impacting his acting opportunities.

"I don't know what goes on behind closed doors, but I can't help but think that it played a part. I was told it did impact a movie that I didn't really care about: Space Jam. I was up for the part that the guy from Seinfeld wound up playing," he said, referring to Wayne Knight.

"Apparently the director saw me hosting the Tony Awards and thought that suggested I was too gay to play the part. So thank God, I didn't have to do Space Jam."

While he didn't land the role, Lane ended up having his movie breakthrough the same year with The Birdcage, a comedy in which he played part of a gay couple alongside Robin Williams.

He admitted that he thought the film would give him more opportunities but it didn't turn out that way.

"I thought perhaps because of the success of that, it'd lead to other films, but then it didn't. It really didn't. I said to my agent, 'I thought more would happen after The Birdcage.' He said, 'Maybe if you weren't so open about your lifestyle, it would have,'" he recalled. "And was an old queen telling me this. So I left him. (The film's director) Mike Nichols sent me to (agency) CAA."

Lane, who publicly announced he was gay in 1999, added while he has had "a terrific, enviable career" overall, there "weren't a lot of opportunities", leading him to believe "homophobia is alive and well still".