GLENN CLOSE IS HAVING THE TIME OF HER LIFE

Oscar-nominated actor Glenn Close shares how working on The Wife felt cathartic for her

Glenn Close, one of the most accomplished actors never to win an Oscar, may finally break through with The Wife. She has been nominated in the Best Actress category at the upcoming awards for the film based on a 2003 novel. “It would mean a lot but I wouldn’t want it to be a pity Oscar because I’ve been an actor for 45 years,” says Close, whose previous honours include several Tony awards, Emmys, and Globes. “People have been going back and looking at my basic body of work and the six times I lost and what those roles were... I feel like everybody’s rooting for me,” she adds.

But that’s not to say she will be crestfallen if she doesn’t win. “I’ve decided if I lose, I’m going to look at the camera and say: ‘I’m OK’,” she smiles.

And she is much more than ‘OK’.. Making The Wife has been a cathartic, empowering experience for her. “It’s taken me a long time to gain control of my own life. When I made The Wife, I was in control of my own life for probably the first time. I felt like I had new wings. Or maybe my wings were finally developed,” she says.

The Wife, a feminist parable, came to Close shortly before the divorce from her third husband.

“I’m at a time in my life where I’m not beholden to anyone. I mean, I always am attached with every molecule in my body to my daughter, whether she likes it or not. But I’m not attached to any partner,” says Close, whose 30-yearold daughter Annie Starke plays the younger version of Close’s character in The Wife.

The actors crafted the character with inspiration from the women of their family tree. Foremost in Close’s mind was her mother, who married at 18.

“It broke my heart to hear her say in her late ‘80s that she accomplished nothing,” says Close.

“You can say, ‘But, you are such a good mother. You stuck with dad’. That wasn’t the point. That’s what I think resonated with a lot women about that speech,” she adds, referring to her rousing speech after winning a Golden Globe for The Wife.

“Because we do what we naturally do. And for a lot of women that might be OK. But it hasn’t been in the tradition to seek personal fulfillment for women,” she explains.

Close has worn her grandmother’s wedding ring, a reminder of the countless women who, like the protagonist of The Wife, deferred self-expression to serve a husband or a family. “She should have been an actor,” Close says, rubbing the ring. “I feel like they’re with me,” she adds.