Sam Interviews Nathan Lane on ‘Fresh Air’

2026-06-07

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In celebration of the Tony Awards, Sam’s conversation on ‘Fresh Air’ with the legendary Nathan Lane.At the time of recording, Lane had just received a nomination for his starring role as Willy Loman in ‘Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.’ He’s a veteran of the stage – often in comedic and musical roles. But in the role of Loman, which he does eight times a week, he’s noticed something different in the audience. “There’s an old joke – my job is just to keep 1600 people from coughing. It's kind of true, but ...

In celebration of the Tony Awards, Sam’s conversation on ‘Fresh Air’ with the legendary Nathan Lane.

At the time of recording, Lane had just received a nomination for his starring role as Willy Loman in ‘Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.’ He’s a veteran of the stage – often in comedic and musical roles. But in the role of Loman, which he does eight times a week, he’s noticed something different in the audience. “There’s an old joke – my job is just to keep 1600 people from coughing. It's kind of true, but when you hear what we hear during ‘Salesman,’ you hear people weeping in the dark.” At the age of 70, Lane says this production of ‘Salesman’ is the thing he’s most proud of.

This episode originally aired May 7, 2026.

Listen to Fresh Air. Special thanks to Terry Gross, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, and Molly Seavy-Nesper.

Subscribe to the Talk Easy YouTube Channel, and watch our latest with Nathan’s Death of a Salesman co-star and Tony nominee Christopher Abbott.

As always, our email: talkeasypod@gmail.com.

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