Mid-Century Modern's Nathan Lee Graham On Golden Girls Comparisons: 'Its Own Thing'

03/27/2025 02:28 PM

He also opens up about working with Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer along with the late Linda Lavin in her final role.

When it comes to Nathan Lee Graham, living with two other men in Palm Springs is a dream.

That's the premise of his new television series, Mid-Century Modern, which he stars in alongside Nathan Lane and Matt Bomer. TooFab sat down with the Broadway actor ahead of the series that has already been dubbed as reminiscent of The Golden Girls.

"If you want to compare our show to something iconic that makes people feel good, like The Golden Girls, go right ahead," Graham told TooFab exclusively. "Mid-Century Modern is its own thing, which people will discover when they see all 10 episodes."

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The Hulu series -- which drops on March 28th -- is a multicamera sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, who brought us Will & Grace.

"I'm so excited about it because it's going to make people feel good about themselves. You're going to be seen. You're going to notice yourself in all these different situations. You're going to be represented," Graham continued.

Bunny (Lane) leads the trio of three gay friends who all move in together after the death of their fourth bestie. Jerry (Bomer) and Arthur (Graham) join Bunny in the house also occupied by Bunny's mother, Sybil (the late Linda Lavin) to help him deal with his loneliness.

"We really did have a good time," Graham said. "It's serious hard work to do it at the pace we do it with Mr. Jimmy Barrows and to learn the lines that we have to learn and then relearn and then the alternate lines, making fools of ourselves in front of these audience members," Graham added.

While the title of the series may incline audiences to think it's about architecture, it has nothing to do with the content once you hit play and hear punchlines like: "You don't look sad. You just look like a reluctant bottom."

"There's not a lot of traditional improv because the writers ... TV is a writer's medium," Graham said. "But because these writers are writing so well for each character, there is room within the writing to explore how to deliver the line. So that's exciting too."

"And it's like a trust exercise doing a multicam. You have to go, 'OK, I'm going to trust that everyone watching me is not going to make me look like a fool. And I'm going to have a good old time, like a little kid in a candy store.'"

Along the way, big name guest stars drop by Palm Springs, such as Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Kimberly Coles.

"Every single guest star we had was brilliant. Everyone was fantastic. And Kim Coles and Jesse Tyler Ferguson happened to be personal friends of mine, as well. So it was so exciting to have them," Graham shared, before adding he would love to have "anyone British" to join in on the fun should there be another season.

Unfortunately, one face the cast and audience will not be seeing on the show again is the late Lavin, who passed away three-quarters through Season 1 from lung cancer.

"It is so special," Graham said of working with Lavin in her final role. "And thank you so much for putting it that way, because that's what it is. It's a very special thing."

"When I think of Linda Lavin, the first words that come to mind are joy and gratitude, because she was such a gracious person," he continued. "She was so giving in her talent. She was such a pro, so supportive. A real broad in the best sense of that word. And a real trooper."

Graham noted how "present" Lavin was at 87-years-old working on set and giving everything to the craft of acting.

"She will look you squarely in the face, into your eyes, and act with you, or behave you with you, I should say, which is even better than acting. It's behavior," he said.

Mid-Century Modern drops all 10 episodes on Friday, March 28th on Hulu.