Emmy nominee profile: Nathan Lane (‘Only Murders in the Building’) seeks to protect his son in ‘The Boy from 6B’

For the seventh time in his long career, Nathan Lane will be trying to win his first ever Primetime Emmy Award. Lane is nominated in the Best Comedy Guest Actor category for his stint as Teddy Dimas on the first season of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.”

Lane’s submission is “The Boy from 6B,” in which Lane, like most of the other characters in the episode, has no audible dialogue and primarily sees Lane communicating using American Sign Language. The episode opens in a flashback of Teddy telling his 10-year-old deaf son, Theo, that he wishes he could hear the soundtrack to the musical, “Carousel.” He tries to see if Theo can hear it through headphones with the volume turned up and presses the headphones against his head until he pulls back and apologizes.

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In the present, Theo (James Caverly) sees Teddy taking Oliver (Martin Short) out for coffee. Upon Teddy’s return, Theo claims that Oliver, Charles (Steve Martin) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are on to their grave-robbing scheme and that they’re suspects in Tim’s murder. Teddy replies they have nothing to worry about because Oliver is in debt to them, that Theo doesn’t listen to him and that he’s supposed to look out for Theo and not the other way around.

Ten years earlier, Mabel’s friend Zoe is flirting with Theo in an elevator. When she gets off the elevator, she signs “Happy new year” to Theo. Teddy notices her wearing a stolen ring and confronts Theo about how she got the stolen jewelry. It’s then revealed that Theo accidentally pushed Zoe off the roof of the building and it was witnessed by Tim. Theo returns to the apartment and vomits on the floor. Teddy consoles him and tells him that he can help him if he tells him how bad it was and if anyone saw him. We then see Teddy speaking to Tim and telling him to not say anything about Theo being with Zoe on the roof and warning him that if he does say anything, he could suffer the same fate as Zoe. In the present, Teddy receives a text from Theo saying that Oliver and Mabel have seen everything.

All but one of Lane’s previous nominations have been in this Best Comedy Guest Actor category. He was nominated for “Frasier” (1995), “Mad About You” (1998) and three times for “Modern Family” (2011, ’13, ’14). He was also nominated for Best Drama Guest Actor for “The Good Wife” in 2013. Lane has won two Daytime Emmys for Best Performer in an Animated Program for “Timon & Pumbaa” in 1996 and “Teacher’s Pet” in 2001.

In his favor is the fact that Lane gets to show great range as Teddy. We see him as a caring and protective father but we also see his character as a menacing criminal who is willing to be ruthless to protect himself and his criminal business. In addition, Lane’s performance is enhanced by his usage of American Sign Language, as it puts extra emphasis on his character’s demeanor and facial expressions.

“The Boy from 6B” is seen as a true standout of the first season of “Only Murders.” Besides this nomination, the episode has also been recognized in Comedy Directing, Original Dramatic Score and Half-Hour Sound Mixing.

This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “Emmy nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2022 acting contenders.

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