Finding Your Roots

I can remember, vividly, there was a woman behind a desk and she said, "You're gonna have to change your name." And it was sort of traumatic. I was very, very surprised, and she said, "It's all right. You can take your time, think about it." And I said, "Just give me a minute." And I sat down. And I had played in summer stock, I had played Benjamin Franklin in "1776". And I had also played Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls" in a non-equity dinner theater in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. And these were two of my favorite roles, and I thought okay, I'll either be Nathan or Benjamin Lane. -

Henry

Right. And I thought for about five minutes and I went over to her and I said, "Nathan, I'll be Nathan Lane." Mm-hm. And I just thought, it's a new beginning. Mm-hm. I'm no longer Joe Lane. I'm now Nathan Lane, whoever he's going to be.