Robin Williams was one of the most beloved actors in the film industry. Though he had quite a few demons, that he had to fight throughout his life, he has gone down in history as a truly kind and accepting individual. On top of this, he has starred in some extremely critically acclaimed projects. From working in Dead Poets Society to Good Will Hunting, Jumanji, and his work in Aladdin, he broke all lines of what an actor could do and became one of the most skilled at this profession.

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society

The fact that he was an exceptional person constantly keeps getting reinforced with more and more people speaking out about how kind he was. The most recent example is that of Nathan Lane, who revealed that Williams helped stop him from getting outed as gay during a segment on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show.

Nathan Lane Was Extremely Nervous

Nathan Lane gave an interview on Today, where he talked about a personal experience that he had with Robin Williams that saved him a lot of distress. He revealed that when he and the Aladdin actor, were going for an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote their film, The Birdcage, he got extremely nervous. This 1996 film was about a queer couple, who disguise themselves as heterosexual to impress the conservative family of their child’s fiancé.

Late Hollywood actor Robin Williams

“I was not prepared at all for that,” Lane explained “And I certainly wasn’t ready to go from table-to-table and tell them all I was gay. I just wanted to talk about I finally got a big part in a movie and I didn’t want to make it about my sexuality, although it was sort of unavoidable because of the nature of the film and the character.”

Considering the themes of this film, Lane was afraid of the questions that were going to be asked. The reason for this was the fact that he was a gay man who had not yet come out of the closet. He knew that the questions would veer off topic and go onto sexuality, considering the themes of the film, was afraid that if this secret of his came out, this would become more talked about than the movie itself.

Robin Williams Came To His Rescue

Nathan Lane explained that he was not prepared for this, and did not necessarily want to talk about his sexuality, wanting to focus on the fact that he got his first big part in the film rather than his personal life. Voicing these concerns to his co-star, he told Robin Williams that he was scared of going and talking to Oprah Winfrey. He mentioned that he was not ready to talk about being gay in front of such a big audience.

Robin Williams and Matt Damon in ‘Good Will Hunting’

“I don’t think Oprah was trying to out me. I said to Robin beforehand, ‘I’m not prepared. I’m so scared of going out there and talking to Oprah. I’m not prepared to discuss that I’m gay on national television. I’m not ready.’” Lane explained “She was like, ‘How come you’re so good at that girlie stuff? Are you worried about being typecast?’” the actor said. “And then Robin sort of swoops in and diverts Oprah, goes off on a tangent and protects me because he was a saint.”

Understanding these concerns and worries, Williams stepped in and saved the actor. During the interview, Winfrey started to ask Lane how he was so good at girly things, and if he was ever worried that he would get typecast for this, Williams came in and saved the day, diverting the conversation, shifting to another topic and protecting him from getting outed.