Glenn Close picks her favourite on-screen lovers
Glenn Close, now in the winter of her career, still lacks an Academy Award to her name even after eight nominations. Thankfully, with a résumé as impressive as the one that Close can boast, she doesn’t need one.
This legendary actor has repeatedly proven herself, delivering one captivating turn after another over the decades. Hell, she even gave an excellent performance in 2020’s thoroughly underwhelming Hillbilly Elegy and gained her eighth Oscar nod in the process, which serves as a shining testament to what a committed and gifted actor she really is.
Given her vast and extensive filmography, which stretches from the early 1980s to the present day and features an incredibly diverse array of film and television roles, Close has certainly had many on-screen lovers and husbands over the years. During an interview with Vulture, she was invited to list her five favourites to date. Close happily obliged and, displaying a great sense of humour, proceeded to rank them.
The first three picks were from three of Close’s Oscar-nominated roles. She listed Robert Redford, who acted with her in the 1985 sports film The Natural, as her all-time favourite – not a surprising choice, as Redford is very much an iconic Hollywood sex symbol. Discussing a scene in which Iris (Close) tells Roy (Redford) to leave her apartment, Close joked, “I don’t know how many women in movies have actually thrown Robert Redford out of their apartment!”
Close also highlighted Kevin Kline and Jonathan Pryce, who acted opposite her in the ‘Best Picture’ nominated dramedy The Big Chill and the drama film The Wife, respectively. She described Kline as a “fabulous husband” and also spoke fondly of Pryce, saying, “He looks at me through that movie with such love”. The Wife was perhaps the time when this famously Oscar-less actor came closest to winning the Academy Award at last, though she ultimately lost to Olivia Colman in The Favorite.
Close’s final two picks were Jack Nicholson and Christopher Walken. She played the First Lady to Nicholson’s president in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks, which represented one of her relatively few forays into Hollywood blockbuster acting, and she’s worked with Walken on two occasions. These were the 1991 TV movie Sarah, Plain and Tall and the remake of The Stepford Wives. Close described Nicholson as great fun to work with and spoke emphatically of her adoration of Walken.
Unsurprisingly, Michael Douglas – who played opposite Close in her terrifying villainous role in 1987’s Fatal Attraction, is omitted. Close’s villain did try to kill him, after all, so that probably wasn’t the same sense of warmth between them.
Glenn Close’s favourite on-screen lovers:
- Robert Redford
- Kevin Kline
- Jonathan Pryce
- Jack Nicholson
- Christopher Walken
