At 68 years old, Nathan Lane is experiencing a monster career moment, of which he does not take a single second for granted. Not only did he play writer Dominick Dunne in the Netflix limited series Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezwhich dramatizes the story of two telegenic brothers who killed their parents in August 1989 and is currently streaming. But on November 22, he is one of the many voices in the Netflix animated film. Bewitchedabout a young girl who must save her family. Lane, married since 2015 to theater producer Devlin Elliott, spoke with AARP about aging, attitude and appreciation.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You have had a long and wonderful career. How did the success of Monsters do you feel in the context of everything you have done?

I think at this age you take everything carefully and cautiously. 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 the series shows you all points of view.

What appealed to you about the role of Dominick Dunne, the real-life journalist who chronicled the trial for Vanity Fair?

I had to do the kind of work that I don’t often get to do in film – that I can do in theater. I am incredibly grateful. It was another opportunity to explore someone, a really complex guy, and how he fit into the puzzle of the Menendez brothers and their trial.

Nathan Lane plays 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 done a musical on Broadway called The Addams Family which was reviled by critics but popular with audiences. I stayed there for a year, but it lasted another year after that. Thus, that year, Charles Isherwood, who was a critic at The New York Times then, I wrote a very nice article about myself, a sort of appreciation. And in the piece, as flattering as it was, he referred to me as something like the “last of the great artists” or “the greatest stage artist of the last decade.” And it was very nice, but I can find the dark cloud in any glimmer of hope.