For nathan lane, every single day is a ‘gift’ | members only

At 68, Nathan Lane is having a monster career moment, not a single second of which he takes for granted. Not only did he play writer Dominick Dunne in the Netflix limited series _Monsters:

The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story_, which dramatizes the story of the two telegenic brothers who killed their parents in August 1989 and is currently streaming. But on Nov. 22, he’s one of

the many voices in the Netflix animated romp _Spellbound_, about a young girl who has to save her family. Lane, married since 2015 to theater producer Devlin Elliott, chatted with AARP about

aging, attitude and appreciation. _This interview has been edited for length and clarity._ YOU’VE HAD A LONG AND WONDERFUL CAREER. HOW DOES THE SUCCESS OF _MONSTERS_ FEEL IN THE CONTEXT OF

EVERYTHING ELSE YOU’VE DONE? I think at this age, you take everything in stride and with a grain of salt. People get carried away. When I was sent the episodes and watched them, I thought,

_This is really compelling, and I really love the writing on this show, and I think the performances are pretty fantastic._ I think what the show does is show you every point of view. WHAT

APPEALED TO YOU ABOUT PLAYING DOMINICK DUNNE, THE REAL-LIFE JOURNALIST WHO CHRONICLED THE TRIAL FOR _VANITY FAIR_? I got to do the kind of work that I don't often get to do on film —

that I get to do in the theater. I'm incredibly grateful. This was another opportunity to explore someone, a really sort of complex guy, and how he fit into this puzzle of the Menendez

brothers and their trial. Nathan Lane portrays journalist Dominick Dunne in the Netflix limited series "Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story." Miles Crist/Netflix HOW HAS

YOUR APPROACH TO ACTING CHANGED AS YOU'VE GOTTEN OLDER? I had been doing a musical on Broadway called _The Addams Family_ that was reviled by the critics but popular with audiences. I

was in it for a year, but it ran another year after that. And so during that year, Charles Isherwood, who was a critic at _The New York Times_ then, wrote a very lovely piece about me, sort

of an appreciation. And in the piece, as flattering as it was, he referred to me as something like the "last of the great entertainers," or "the greatest stage entertainer of

the last decade." And it was very nice, but I can find the dark cloud in any silver lining.