Jesse Tyler Ferguson recalls Nathan Lane’s adult joke to his 5-year-old son
"Nathan, he's a 5-year-old. Like, let it rest," said Ferguson.
Mark
Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson has been speaking about his friendship with fellow actor Nathan Lane. Lane also had a recurring role in Modern Family, playing Pepper Saltzman in ten episodes across its decade-long run.
Ferguson hosts his own podcast, Dinner’s On Me. In the latest episode, he sat down with Mary Elizabeth Ellis (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). During their conversation, they discussed people they look up to in the industry, and Ferguson mentioned Lane.
He said The Birdcage star’s advice is always “so funny, because I don’t even think he’s like trying to give me advice, but I think [it’s] just his sort of sense of humor and willingness to just be himself around me.”
One such occasion when Lane couldn’t help being himself involved a visit to Ferguson’s home for dinner. Ferguson lives with husband Justin Mikita and sons Beckett, 5, and Sullivan, 3.
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Dinner chez Ferguson
“[Lane] was in town [filming] something and we’ve been trying to meet for dinner and it was just easier,” Ferguson explained. “I was like, ‘Do you just want me to cook for you? I’ll cook for you.’ And he came over.”
Ferguson explained to his children that Lane was visiting and bringing fellow actor Pamela Adlon.
“‘You know, my friend Nathan’s coming over and he’s bringing our friend Pam,'” Ferguson recalled telling his sons. “And I was like, ‘You know Nathan, of course. You’ve listened to him, you know his voice from [Timon in] The Lion King.’ So I played ‘Hakuna Matata’ and on my way to school they were singing ‘Hakuna Matata’ and I was like, ‘This is Nathan who is coming to dinner!'”
“So that evening, Nathan comes over with Pam, and Nathan comes in, and my son goes, ‘I know who you are!’ He called him ‘Athan.’ ‘Athan, Athan, Athan, I know who you are! You’re from ‘Hakuna Matata,’ you’re from Lion King!’ And Nathan was like, ‘Oh god.’ Like as if he was being stopped in the street by a fan. I was like, ‘Nathan, he’s a 5-year-old. Like, let it rest.'”
Five-year-old Beckett then went off to his room and came back a little while later with something hidden behind his back to show Lane.
“He’s like, ‘Athan, Athan, Athan, guess what I have?'” Ferguson remembered. “And Nathan goes, ‘Hepatitis.'”
“I loved him so much for just being authentically himself,” Ferguson told Ellis. “He’s like, ‘I don’t mind kids, but I also don’t relate to them. And I hear an opportunity for a joke and this is what I’m going to give.'”
Related
Jesse Tyler Ferguson recalls his cringe comment to Nathan Lane after Robin Williams’s death
Nathan Lane was guesting on ‘Modern Family’ when news broke about Robin Williams’s passing.
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