Almost There: Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage"
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 10:02AM 
For as long as queer narratives have attracted prestige and awards buzz, straight actors have earned praise for playing LGBTQ+ characters. They're often complimented for being brave, risky, for putting their careers on the line in pursuit of some grand artistic merit. Even in 2020, once you move away from the festival circuit and regard more mainstream productions, it's hard to find actual queer actors portraying these roles. Ammonite and Supernova are just the latest examples of this trend. This isn't to say that cishet actors can't be great at playing queer roles, but we'd like some variety, especially in the context of Oscars.
Back in 1996, AMPAS had a good opportunity to honor a gay actor playing a gay role. Nathan Lane, who admittedly wasn't out yet, was in contention for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in Mike Nichols' The Birdcage…
Adapted from a play by Jean Poiret and a 1979 Academy-Award nominated French classic, The Birdcage is a merry farce about two worlds colliding. Armand and Albert have been a couple for decades when we meet them, having raised a son together and started their own business in Miami. While Armand owns a gay nightclub, Albert acts in it as a popular drag queen. On stage, he's Starina, singing live while bedecked in leopard furs and much glitter, as fabulous as he's confident, dazzling. In contrast, off stage, Albert's a nervous wreck, plagued by insecurities and the suspicion that Armand is having an affair behind his back. At first, we may even think the drag queen's right.
After all, we do witness a mysterious young man visiting Armand alone in his and Albert's apartment. However, he's not a lover but the couple's beloved son Val, returning home to share some exciting news. The college student has gotten engaged to a teenager called Barbara, the young daughter of a conservative Republican Senator currently embroiled in a sex scandal. Because of the PR disaster, Barbara's mother decides a wedding would be just the thing to satiate the press and erase their family's connection to a recently deceased politician who died in bed with an underage prostitute. The problem is that they're unaware that Val's got two dads.
Trying desperately to enchant his fiancée's parents, the young man convinces his parents to pretend to be heterosexual for a night, going as far as to contact the absent birth mother who's never wanted to be a part of his life. Everything goes wrong and it all culminates in a catastrophic dinner party complete with pornographic china and a touch of female impersonation. Before such hilarity, though, The Birdcage treats its audience to a series of scenes where a son berates his dads, showing how much he's ashamed of them. Elaine May's witty script and the game cast make this comedy into a good-natured delight, but it's always hard to avoid some indignant fury at the character of the son. Every time Val appears, one feels like booing.
We're not here to hate on that odious ungrateful man baby, however. Our purpose today is to examine and celebrate Nathan Lane's inspiring turn as Albert.
From his first scene, the Broadway star's a force to be reckoned with, leaning into the camp exaggeration of his role with gusto. It's hard to make hysterical despondency funny without betraying your character's integrity, but Lane does it with ease. His diva-like antics are always anchored in genuine feeling while also being a bit of an act Albert puts on for his own amusement. Watching him and Robin Williams' Armand bickering in the dressing room, we get the gist of their dynamic, how often they've repeated the same arguments, and the tenderness lacing each bit of delicious shade.
Their chemistry together is one of the film's many highlights, instantly making us believe these people's long-lasting love, a relationship so stable and comfortable it can explode in performative antagonism without anyone getting too hurt. In other words, they're a believable old married couple, even without the wedding rings on their fingers. Furthermore, they make us see how much they adore their son, with little hints of adoration shining through the comedic antics. Now and then, Nichols and his actors orchestrate oasis of sweet quietude in the desert of screwball insanity, like the sight of a parent looking at their sleeping child with a soft smile.
For all the camp extravagance, Lane knows how to negotiate real, delicate emotion in between bouts of broad humor. Moreover, he makes Albert's personality seem real and not like a parody. One of his greatest strengths is how he differentiates between the character's drama queen tendencies and the caustic pain Val's behavior causes. That hurt isn't played for laughs, and while Albert's wacky solutions to the problem at hand may be funny, his honest bereavement never is. Before the dinner, when he's again rejected by the people he loves the most, Albert's reaction isn't a quippy one-liner, but a sharp "You hate me. You both hate me." It's heartbreaking to witness, and it's because of such bruised humanity living beneath layers of flamboyance that The Birdcage's craziest bits work so well.
When Albert tries to be overtly masculine and fails, the clownishness of the lark is a welcome respite from his anguished lamentation. When he explodes into the dinner party dressed in sensible heels and pearls, all the hurt that came before makes the moment hit with more power. It's also wonderful to see Lane have so much fun, letting us in on the idea that, after all the trouble his family put him through, Albert's enjoying being an agent of chaos even as he pretends to be a devoted housewife. It's smartly nuanced work that tends to look simplistic because of its humoristic verve, a broad performance that succeeds thanks to intelligent strokes of atonal feeling.
If The Birdcage were a dessert, Lane's the genius chef that knows to add necessary salt and acidic notes to better highlight the all-consuming sweetness.
The Birdcage won the SAG in 1996, becoming the only victor of that trophy which failed to secure a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Unfortunately for Lane, that bad luck would extend to his Best Supporting Actor bid. He may have gotten nods for the SAG and the Golden Globe, but AMPAS preferred five other men above him. The Academy's nominees were Cuba Gooding Jr. for Jerry Maguire, William H. Macy for Fargo, Edward Norton for Primal Fear, Armin Mueller-Stahl for Shine, and James Woods for Ghosts of Mississippi. Gooding Jr. won despite losing the Globe to Norton, while Lane is still without an Academy Award-nomination to this day.
The Birdcage is available to stream on DirecTV and Sling TV. You can also rent it from Google Play, Youtube, Apple iTunes, Amazon, and others.
Reader Comments (22)
Should've won the oscar for this performance easily. All these years, Lane's memorable performance into a specific comedy characterization will continue to be etched into our memories. So unforgettable.
Let’s be frank - he’s Leading, isn’t he? I nominate him in that category anyway (the story is his and Williams’ with the other characters Supporting)...
It is pretty dumbfounding that he missed - who was the late charge that displaced him? Mueller-Stahl? Woods?
Just to add that Macy is also clearly Leading (I also nominate him and Buscemi in that category)
A great piece that highlights the masterful work in comedies too often ignored by Oscar (see also Blunt and Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada, off the top of my head)
I wasn’t following the Oscars back then, but does anyone know if category confusion was considered a reason for his snub? SAG was the only awards body that nominated him as a supporting actor, while every other nomination he received for the role (including the Golden Globes) was as a lead.
There were several borderline lead/supporting roles in contention that year, now that I’m looking at the field.
Ew, the fact that Lane lost out on a nomination to the grotesque James Woods makes me sick.
kermit_ the_frog -- I do consider him a leading actor, alongside Robin Williams.
Edwin -- That's something that I wondered about too. He was nominated at the Globes, Satellite Awards, OFTA Film Awards, and American Comedy Awards as a lead actor. Still, the SAG nomination was for supporting, as well as a citation from the Chicago Film Critics Association. That same year, Macy was also nominated in different categories by the precursors but ended up in Supporting at the Oscars. I imagine the same would have happened to Lane if the Academy had recognized him.
Category fraud doesn't bother me in general, but Nathan Lane is a lead in Birdcage.
Lane deserved a best actor nomination it's not a supporting role. This is still a very watchable mainstream movie with a gay theme- even now the son really comes across as an asshole. I guess Oscar only likes their gay characters if they are tragic victims of fate
Def category fraud for him to compete in supporting, and had he gotten the nomination, it would have seemed homophobic that it wasn't in the lead category, so I'm really mixed on the idea. Looking at the men who WERE nominated in lead, I can't think of an obviously weak candidate, but he was at least as good as three or four who got it, if not better.
Random thought about THE BIRDCAGE. It always stuns me how much of an "A picture" this is. Will they ever spend this kind of money on a comedy again? The crowd scenes, the complex steadicam long takes, the sets, the areal shot pulling back from Christine Baranski in her car, stuck on the bridge. The first helicopter shot coming in over the ocean into the nightclub. Damn. It was like an OUT OF AFRICA budget for a zany queer comedy.
I prefer the original La Cage aux Folles Much more than this but I agree about lane being the MVP here. He deserved that nomination
He is Lead but at a stretch could be supporting,ever cast member is tonally right for this film,i'll never get over the sight of Hackman in Linda Evans drag.
The one performer for me who really stands out is Williams,he is perfect in it.
A really good thorough write up.
Fave scene is the rehearsal with the cute guy chewing gum "Madonna Madonna"
One thing though, not mentioned in the article, don't know why, Hank Azaria was also up for SAG. Maybe at some point a little vote splitting screwed Lane's chances, who was already at a disadvantage when he dropped to supporting and confused things. Or at least gave the impression that he was supporting.
BD -- You're right that I probably should have mentioned it. Despite that, I do believe that only Lane really stood a chance with AMPAS. SAG really went wild for The Birdcage back in 1996.
But how can he be supporting? It's a co starring role?!
The Birdcage is one of those films that I will stop and watch anytime it’s on. That entire ensemble is aces. You could make compelling arguments for Williams, Hackman, Wiest, Azaria, and Lane getting nominations. Putting Lane in supporting would have made sense if they had built a credible campaign for Williams in lead, but it really is a two-hander. It’s one of the greatest ensembles ever assembled. I wish AMPAS would have paid more attention. It’s still hysterical and directed with such love and sensitivity.
I think I remember some awards show that year where presenter Rosie Perez took a moment to make a favorable comment about Hank Azaria's legs. The camera cut to Helen Hunt, who nodded in agreement.
His best scenes are with Gene Hackman, I laugh everytime I watch them.
He was a better option than Cuba Gooding Jr.
Too bad you wrote this yesterday, it's off Prime and Hulu now.
I think both Lane and Williams deserved a nomination for this. It's a perfectly cast film.
I don't even know how many times I've seen this, it's my go-to, cheer me up, film.
I still can't get over the fact that Flockheart was 31 when she made this, and Futterman 28!
Jaragon -- I agree, but the Academy has never been too bothered by category fraud.
bdog -- Thanks for alerting me to that. I've updated the article to reflect where it's available to stream and/or rent.
my theory is that in the mid 90s the Academy stiill understood that there could be two leads in a film (see Thelma & Louise earlier that decade and multiple 80s films). I think it took a decade or so for them to fully accept that there could be no such thing as two leads of the same sex (LOL --i'm being sarcastic)
so i think the confusion over where to put Lane given a supporting campaign and lead precursors probably doomed the nomination.
Lane IS definitely the Lead. The Birdcage iS a success largely due to his leading performance!! Thank you v much!
The handbook, Rules, 1996 (69th) Academy Awards, reads as follows, "The determination as to whether a role is a lead or support shall be made individually by members of the branch at the time of balloting. The leading role and supporting role categories will be tabulated simultaneously. If any performance should receive votes in both categories, the achievement shall only be placed on the ballot in that category in which, during the tabulation process, it first receives the required number of votes to be nominated."
We have seen this before. The first incident was in 1944 when Barry Fitzgerald won enough votes for his performance in Going My Way to land in both lead and supporting. By laws were changed then to prevent a repeat of the confusion. We have seen some contenders (i.e. Valerie Perrine in Lenny) win supporting prizes in the precursors and then have AMPAS nominate them as lead.
Nathaniel is correct. Because the studio promoted the leading role as supporting but AMPAS voters are permitted to choose the category where they believe the actor should compete, some supported the studio placement in supporting while other voters nominated him for lead. Sometimes studio advocate for lead actors to compete for supporting categories. This often occurs with child actors (i.e. Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon) or lesser known actors who don't want to invade the category of the star (i.e. Rooney Mara in Carol). For Nathan Lane, the gambit backfired.
It’s the same thing Jamie Lee Curtis in true lies, she won both supporting and lead precursors and was totally screwed over as a result, even though she was the MVP (and a total lead).