Nathan Lane is being tested (and he loves it) | Fresh Air

Nathan Lane just received a Tony 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. He spoke with ‘Fresh Air’ guest interviewer Sam Fragoso, host of the podcast ‘Talk Easy.’ This episode originally aired May 7, 2026. SUBSCRIBE TO THE FRESH AIR NEWSLETTER: https://support.whyy.org/page/39306/s... OR OTHER NEWS FROM NPR: https://www.npr.org/newsletters/ SUBSCRIBE TO FRESH AIR+ FOR BONUS EPISODES https://plus.npr.org/freshair LISTEN TO DAILY EPISODES OF FRESH AIR https://www.npr.org/podcasts/38144490... LISTEN TO OTHER FRESH AIR INTERVIEWS ON YOUTUBE (published once a week)    • Fresh Air   FOLLOW “FRESH AIR”   / nprfreshair     / nprfreshair   https://whyy.org/freshair (Newsletter) SUBSCRIBE TO WHYY AND NPR WHYY:    / @whyyphiladelphia   NPR:    / @npr   NPR Music (Tiny Desk):    / @nprmusic   Jazz Night in America:    / @jazznightinamerica   NOTE: Captions are auto-generated by YouTube. See “Fresh Air” sponsors and promo codes https://www.nationalpublicmedia.com/p... The NPR shows you love are possible thanks to your support. Donate today: https://www.npr.org/donations/support