Matt Bomer is still processing his grief after losing his “Mid-Century Modern” co-star Linda Lavin while they were still in the midst of filming the Hulu sitcom.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” Bomer said during Monday’s “Dinner’s On Me” podcast episode, hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. “I’m so grateful that we were able to honor her and pay tribute to her. I can’t think of another time in a career or another medium where you’d ever have to be processing something and performing.”
Lavin, a longtime TV star and Tony-winning actress, died at age 87 on Dec. 29, 2024, following complications from lung cancer. She had been promoting her new Netflix series “No Good Deed” and was shooting the Hulu comedy series when she got the diagnosis.
Upon her sudden death, Bomer noted that “Mid-Century Modern” took a short production break before going right back to filming.
“We shut down for one week for the writers to collect themselves and then we had to go right into it,” he said. “It’s times like that, that you really are grateful that you’re working with these incredible veteran directors; actors who know how to kind of gently steer the ship in a situation like that.”
The day after her death, Bomer took to Instagram to celebrate Lavin’s life, saying: “I am deeply grateful to have been touched by the brilliance of Linda Lavin. She is an icon, a phenomenal artist, and a deeply caring human being who will remain an inspiration to so many (myself included), and she will be greatly missed by all of us.”
Bomer also said he can still vividly remember what it was like to be back on set following her death.
“I remember, obviously, rehearsing that all week. I think we were all kind of mourning, but also protecting ourselves,” he shared. “Then I remember looking to Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee [Graham] and something was like roiling in Nathan Lane. I mean, I could tell something was coming through him … I think we all just tried to kind of get out of our own way and pay tribute to her character and her.”
When TheWrap spoke to “Mid-Century Modern” creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick last month, they said replacing Lavin was never an option, despite the “tacky” agents who inquired if they were looking.
“There would be no replacing Linda,” Mutchnick said. “We would have to reinvent how the show held its shape.”
