“I’m such an idiot,” Ferguson remembered thinking. “Oh my God.”

Jesse Tyler Ferguson recalls blunder to Nathan Lane after the death of his Birdcage costar Robin Williams

"I'm such an idiot," Ferguson remembered thinking. "Oh my God."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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December 9, 2025 11:53 p.m. ET

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Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in 'The Birdcage'. Credit:

United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection

Jesse Tyler Ferguson meant well.

The *Modern Family *star is recalling a slightly embarrassing gaffe he blundered into at a sensitive time while making the ABC sitcom. While discussing memories of the late, great Robin Williams on Tuesday's new episode of his *Dinner's on Me* podcast, Ferguson told guest Josh Hutcherson why he'll always remember exactly where he was when he learned the legendary comedian died.

"I was with Nathan Lane. He was working on *Modern Family* when we found out that Robin Williams had passed away. And I was like — I hope this is funny to someone — but I was like, 'Nathan, did you ever work with him? Did you know him?' He's like, 'He played my husband on *The Birdcage*."**

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Nathan Lane.

Karwai Tang/WireImage; Stephanie Augello/Variety via Getty

Ferguson recalled that his embarrassment over that particular slip in his grasp of Hollywood history stung for two reasons.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, that's right. Of course he did.' It's like one of my favorite films," he said.

He remembered being "sort of in shock" after the gaffe, playfully ribbing himself, "I was like, 'I'm such an idiot. Of course you did. Oh my God.'"

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Though Williams' and Ferguson's paths never crossed before the former's sudden 2014 death, they do share a strong link in their mutual costar of Lane.

The three-time Tony winner starred opposite Williams in *The Birdcage *as the fussy and overwrought Albert Goldman, who performs under the drag moniker Starina at his husband Armand's (Williams) South Beach gay club, also called The Birdcage. Decades later, he'd appear on and off *Modern Family *from 2010 to 2019 as Pepper Saltzman, a longtime friend of Ferguson's Mitchell Pritchett. Earlier this year, Ferguson would return the favor by guesting on Lane's new sitcom *Mid-Century Modern*.

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Lane was effusive about Williams throughout his lifetime and poured out sincere tributes after his death, telling Andy Cohen in 2014 that "no one was more kind" than the legendary funny man.

In 2023, Lane shared that Williams went out of his way to guard Lane's privacy during the *Birdcage *press tour, when he wasn't quite ready to publicly discuss his sexuality.

"He said, 'Oh, it's all right, don't worry about — we don't have to talk about it," he recalled. When Oprah Winfrey began that line of inquiry during an interview for the film, Lane recalled that Williams went "off on a tangent and [protected] me because he was a saint."****

You can listen to Tuesday's full episode of *Dinner's On Me* above.

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