Nathan Lane Eyes New Musical Based on 1979 Award-Winning Film BEING THERE

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nathan Lane discusses his over 40 year-career in theater and reveals that he may come out of "semiretirement from musicals" to work on a new production based on the 1979 Peter Sellers film BEING THERE.

In addition, the actor is hoping to successfully pitch a Jackie Gleason film biopic to HBO and may even try his hand at directing, ("if I'm feeling brave.") The Tony winner is also considering taking on a Shakespearean piece, as long as it's "nothing too heavy."

Says Lane, "You just want that feeling of being scared again and thinking, 'I actually don't know if I could pull this off.'" He says of his long and varied career in show business, "A long time ago Ken Branagh said to me 'You can't just talk about these parts. You have to take them and it will be life-changing.' And it's very true. It's been life-changing."

The 1979 comedy-drama BEING THERE was directed by Hal Ashby and starred Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Richard A. Dysart, Jack Warden, and Richard Basehart. Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.

Nathan Lane was recently seen on television in the role of defense lawyer F. Lee Bailey in FX's THE PEOPLE VS OJ SIMPSON. He will soon portray attorney Roy Cohn in the upcoming London production of ANGELS IN AMERICA, set to open in the spring. Currently, he stars opposite John Goodman in the Broadway in a revival of THE FRONT PAGE.