Jesse Tyler Ferguson had no qualms about Nathan Lane telling an grownup joke to his 5-year-old son, Beckett.
Ferguson, 50, shared that he lately invited Lane, 69, and Pamela Adlon over to his dwelling for dinner through the newest episode of his “Dinner’s on Me” podcast. Earlier than the meal, he recalled utilizing Lane’s very well-known Disney character, The Lion King’s Timon, as a touchpoint for Beckett and son Sullivan, 3, to assist acknowledge their impending visitors. (Ferguson shares each his sons with husband Justin Mikita.)
“[Lane] was on the town taking pictures one thing and we’ve been making an attempt to satisfy for dinner and it was simply simpler. I used to be like, ‘Do you simply need me to prepare dinner for you? I’ll prepare dinner for you.’ And he came visiting,” the Trendy Household star defined. “And I used to be like, ‘You already know Nathan, after all. You’ve listened to him, you realize his voice from [Timon in] The Lion King.’ So I performed ‘Hakuna Matata’ and on my strategy to college, they have been singing ‘Hakuna Matata.’ And I used to be like, ‘That is Nathan who’s coming to dinner!’”
He continued, “In order that night, Nathan comes over with Pam, and Nathan is available in, and my son goes, ‘I do know who you might be!’ He known as him, ‘Athan.’ ‘Athan, Athan, Athan, I do know who you might be! You’re from ‘Hakuna Matata,’ you’re from Lion King!‘”
Whereas Ferguson’s youngsters have been clearly excited, the Solely Murders within the Constructing star was allegedly lower than enthused to be acknowledged for certainly one of his previous roles. “Nathan was like, ‘Oh god.’ Like, as if he was being stopped on the street by a fan,” Ferguson recalled with fun. “I used to be like, ‘Nathan, he’s a 5-year-old. Like, let it relaxation!’”
Lane’s response didn’t dissuade Ferguson’s eldest, although, as Beckett returned shortly after with one thing hidden behind his again. When he requested Lane to guess what he had, the Birdcage star didn’t maintain again.
“He’s like, ‘Athan, Athan, Athan, guess what I’ve?’” Ferguson remembered. “And Nathan goes, ‘Hepatitis.’”
Regardless of the joke being extra geared towards adults, Ferguson stated he wasn’t bothered by Lane’s disposition.
“I cherished him a lot for simply being authentically himself,” Ferguson confessed, including that Lane has expressed that youngsters aren’t his favourite crowd. “He’s like, ‘I don’t thoughts youngsters, however I additionally don’t relate to them. And I hear a possibility for a joke and that is what I’m going to present.’”
Lane’s standing as Disney royalty has made him a legend to the youthful generations. The Emmy winner starred as lovable jungle meerkat Timon in all three of the unique Lion King movies, one half of the film’s comedic reduction duo with Ernie Sabella Nathan Lane Made Hepatitis Joke to Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s 5-12 months-Previous Son who portrayed warthog Pumba.
Whereas there may be loads of child humor all through every Lion King — together with Pumba’s farting noises, which got here from Sabella making an attempt to make Lane chortle in early morning recording classes — there was one adult-leaning joke that made its manner into the film because of Lane’s improv.
Whereas showing on an April 2025 episode of SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Wants a Good friend present, Lane admitted the scene the place Timon places on a skirt and distracts a bunch of hyenas got here from him “screwing round” within the studio.
“I don’t even keep in mind half of it, however, apparently I stated, ‘What would you like me to do, costume in drag and do the hula?’ for some motive,” Lane recalled of the now-famous line. “It should have been an extended day. After which they made it a track.”
Lane, who got here out publicly as homosexual in 1999, almost expanded his youngsters film resume with one other basic, 1996’s Area Jam. Nonetheless, the Guys and Dolls actor claimed throughout a Might 2025 interview with Self-importance Truthful that he was handed over for the function because of homophobia.
“I used to be informed [being gay did] affect a film that I didn’t actually care about: Area Jam. I used to be up for the half that the man from Seinfeld wound up enjoying,” Lane stated, referencing the function of Michael Jordan’s publicist that in the end went to Wayne Knight. “I used to be up for that half. Apparently the director noticed me internet hosting the Tony Awards and thought that recommended I used to be too homosexual to play the half. So thank God, I didn’t must do Area Jam.”
