‘I’m not as fierce as I seem’: Glenn Close on growing up in a cult, marching against Trump – and being unlucky in love – Glenn Close – The Guardian
‘I’m not as fierce as I seem’: Glenn Close on growing up in a cult, marching against Trump – and being unlucky in love
She’s Hollywood’s biggest character actor who terrified a generation of men with her ‘bunny boiling’ turn in Fatal Attraction. Now, Close alternates the glamour of the red carpet with living in a red state. She talks about the joy of her ‘undefined’ life
‘She will always be relevant. To me she’s a tragic figure’: Close as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987). Photograph: Landmark Media / AlamyBy Emma Brockes, Sat 15 Nov 2025 01.00 EST
Most of us don’t live our lives in accordance with a governing metaphor, but Glenn Close does. The 78-year-old was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, a town in the north‑east of the US that, to the actor’s enduring irritation, telegraphs “smug affluence” to other Americans. In fact, Close’s background is more complicated than that, rooted in a childhood that was wild and free but also traumatic, and in an area of New England in which her family goes back generations. “I grew up on those great stone walls of New England,” says the actor, chin out, gimlet-eyed – Queen Christina at the prow of a ship. “Some of them were 6ft tall and 250 years old! I have a book called Sermons in Stone and it says at one point that more energy and hours ran into building the New England stone walls than the pyramids.”
If the walls are an image Close draws on for strength, they might also serve as shorthand for the journalist encountering her at interview. Close appears in a London hotel suite today in a military-style black suit, trim, compact, and with a small white dog propped up on a chair beside her. For the span of our conversation, the actor’s warmth and friendliness combine with a reserve so practised and precise that the presence of the dog in the room feels, unfairly perhaps, like a handy way for Close to burn through a few minutes of the interview with some harmless guff about dog breeds. (The dog is called Pip, which is short for “Sir Pippin of Beanfield”. He is a purebred Havanese and “they’re incredibly intelligent”. Most dog owners in the US have the emotional support paperwork necessary to get them on a plane but, says Close, laughing, “That’s really what he is!”)
Anyway, none of this matters – neither the reserve nor the canine distraction – because, of course, Glenn Close is completely irresistible. How could she not be? The intensity of her most famous roles, from Alex Forrest, the “bunny boiler” in Fatal Attraction (1987), to her maniacal Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996), to Joan Castleman, the seething protagonist of The Wife (2017), makes her that rare thing, a movie star who is also beloved as a character actor. Long before A-list actors made a stampede towards television, Close was churning out five seasons of Damages, the great New York legal drama that ran from 2007, and her choice of projects remains improbably broad. After our meeting, she will fly to Berlin to film the sixth instalment of The Hunger Games, in which she will play Drusilla Sickle, then return to London to film Maud, a drama for Channel 4, all the while appearing on Disney+ in Ryan Murphy’s new schlock divorce drama, All’s Fair, in which she stars alongside – broad church, indeed – Kim Kardashian. Close, who has been known to lobby for a role after she has been turned down for it, has never won an Oscar, and if it’s a weird glitch in Hollywood history, from certain angles the omission works in her favour. Taken alongside the impossible grandness of a Meryl Streep or Cate Blanchett, Close remains the more nimble and interesting performer.
Glenn CloseActually, I suspect Close can be extremely grand in her way; she’s just better at clothing it in a down-to-earth manner. Her newest release is Wake Up Dead Man, the third Knives Out mystery by Rian Johnson for Netflix – first film, fantastic; second, a mess; this one, a return to form with a starry ensemble cast that includes Andrew Scott, Josh Brolin and Kerry Washington. (Brolin plays a Trump-like preacher in a small town in upstate New York, thumping his pulpit and leading people towards mutual hatred and suspicion.) Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc is funnier than ever (the best joke involves a snippet of music from Cats and some organ music from Phantom of the Opera). But the standout role in the movie is Close as Martha Delacroix, a righteous woman quivering with religious fervour – or “a sad character with no life outside the church”, as Close puts it – with the creepy habit of materialising behind people and making them jump.
The role was an easy yes for Close because of Johnson’s reputation. “I leapt at it!” she says. “I’d heard from absolutely everyone what a wonderful human being Rian Johnson is. And he really is. He’s incredibly bright and funny, and wonderful. I mean I’d marry him if he wasn’t already married.” Dry pause. “And if he’d have me, at my age.”
Editor’s Note: I was lucky enough –a production assistant– to meet and assist Glenn, while filming “The Big Chill” in Beaufort, SC at Tidalhome. Gracious, funny, professional, fun. I have a signed photo and script with her signing. One amazing lady…
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