“It doesn’t make sense”: Glenn Close names the most undeserving Oscar winner of all time
Hopefully, Glenn Close realised that there was more than a touch of irony in calling somebody the least deserving Academy Award winner of all time when she doesn’t have one of her own.
In fact, she’s a record-setter in that regard. Close is tied with Peter O’Toole as the most-nominated actor in the ceremony’s history to have never had their name read aloud onstage with eight unsuccessful nods apiece, but whereas the legendary Lawrence of Arabia star was given an honorary gong, she hasn’t been.
It may happen eventually, but if it doesn’t, then she’ll either maintain that benchmark for the foreseeable future or extend it further if she ever winds up on the shortlist again. In terms of active competitors, Amy Adams is closest after going zero-for-six, with Annette Bening, Bradley Cooper, and Michelle Williams on five.
Close does have three Primetime Emmys, three Golden Globes, and three Tonys in her trophy cabinet, but that elusive Oscar has proven impossible to come by. Being the joint-biggest loser in almost a century of the Oscars doesn’t eliminate her from commenting on who shouldn’t have won, though, and there are plenty of people who’d disagree.
While it could be interpreted as sour grapes, since she’s sat there in the audience eight times and been forced to smile for the cameras and clap while somebody else won, it’s not as controversial as you may think for one actor to say that another didn’t deserve their prize, especially when it came for a performance in a movie that’s viewed as one of the worst ‘Best Picture’ winners ever.
“I remember the year that Gwyneth Paltrow won over that incredible actress who was in Central Station, and I thought, ‘What?'” she recalled. “It’s like, you know, it doesn’t make sense.” It sure as shit made sense to Harvey Weinstein, who oversaw the campaign that turned Shakespeare in Love into an awards season juggernaut, even though it was competing against many vastly superior films.
As for Paltrow, the then-26-year-old became one of the youngest ‘Best Actress’ winners to date, beating out Elizabeth‘s Cate Blanchett, Hilary and Jackie‘s Emily Watson, One True Thing‘s Meryl Streep, and Close’s personal pick, Central Station‘s Fernanda Montenegro.
Did the Shakespeare in Love leading lady deserve to win? Probably not, to be honest, so Close has a point. However, you could possibly state a stronger case for Blanchett being the most deserving winner of the five, but that’s merely a matter of personal preference, although Montenegro was incredible in Walter Salles’ road movie.
Time has not been kind to John Madden’s period-set rom-com in general, particularly when it comes to its Academy Awards dominance, and for Close’s money, Paltrow’s ‘Best Actress’ victory was the most baffling thing she’d ever seen.
