Nathan Lane reflects on working with brilliant Gene Hackman in Birdcage: Thrill of a lifetime

Nathan Lane shared a touching tribute to Gene Hackman following the legendary actor’s surprising death last month.Lane, who starred alongside Hackman in Mike Nichols’ 1996 film “The Birdcage,” opened up about his time shooting the comedy during a Tuesday night appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”“I think I told him every morning he was my favorite actor,” Lane, 69, said of the late “Unforgiven” star.“It was the thrill of a lifetime to get to work with him,” Lane continued.“He was such, one of the greats of the screen, and I was just very fortunate to share that time with him.”“The Birdcage” sees Lane and Robin Williams portray a gay couple preparing to meet their son’s soon-to-be in-laws – played by Hackman and Dianne Wiest.Lane discussed one scene in particular and how Hackman was able to do a comedy “beautifully.” He also recalled pestering Hackman about all the previous movies the “Superman” actor starred in.“When we were shooting that scene, that dinner scene, we were all at a table for a whole week, so every morning, I would tell him he was my favorite actor, and I would say, ‘Tell me about The Conversation.

Tell me about Scarecrow — you and Pacino,'” Lane told Colbert.“And he would go, ‘Scarecrow? You liked Scarecrow?'” Lane added.

“He was like Spencer Tracy: you couldn’t catch him acting, he could do comedy or drama beautifully, and he was such a smart actor.”Also surprising was “The Producers” star’s claim that there was “kind of a slight flirtation going on” between him and Hackman during the filming of “The Birdcage.”“He was brilliant at comedy, and I do remember we had a scene where he and I are dancing, and we’re singing ‘I Could Have Danced All Night,'” Lane recalled to “The Late Show.”“And then at the end, we’re leaving the scene,” Lane continued.“We’re going into dinner.

And I ad-libbed, I said, ‘You know, I played Eliza in high s...