Is Glenn Close Allowed To Be Having This Much Fun?
It would be easy to call it a “Glennaissance,” but that would imply Glenn Close has ever experienced a fallow period in her career. “A Bach-Glenn-alia” might be clunkier, but it’s certainly more accurate because I’m not sure anyone in Hollywood is having as much fun as the 78-year-old, eight-time Oscar nominee right now. (Nor does anyone’s career quite capture the fascination of the public like hers.) No offense, Timothée, but Close might be the Internet’s new favorite actor.
Close seems to be everywhere right now, especially in the places you’d least expect to find her. She’s on TikTok doing dances with Niecy Nash. Log onto Twitter and you’ll find someone has posted a clip of her saying “fuck you, bitch” in the most “Can I speak to the manager?” wig Hollywood has ever concocted. She recently guest-starred on The Kardashians, where she got drunk with Kris Jenner. She was spotted carousing in the streets of Madrid with two of Spain’s hottest gay guys shortly before they announced their breakup (not to imply she’s responsible, but you never quite know, given her power). She’s in the trailer for the next Knives Out movie, making a joke about penis-shaped graffiti, too.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she took over the Internet again this week, looking like the world’s most tragic victim of Groupon Botox and unethical plastic surgery. In truth, she was in prosthetics for her role in the next Hunger Games movies. “Glenn Close has her face taped to her ass. I am beyond seated,” wrote one Twitter user.
In truth, Close’s currently much-memed streak began in 2024, when Lee Daniel released the Netflix original horror film The Deliverance. She played Alberta Jackson, perhaps film’s greatest version of an archetype of women known for having “the haircut” (if you don’t know what that is, W is not the outlet to explain it to you). A clip of her character on her deathbed in Nosferatu-esque pointed dentures exclaiming, “I can smell your nappy p*ssy,” almost immediately went viral. Twitter seems to still be mining the film for viral moments.
Her role in Hulu’s critically derided but much-watched Kim Kardashian vehicle All’s Fair brought a new run of attention (including the TikTok dance). But Close had to cut out of the promo tour earl. She’s just too damn busy. She flew to Spain to film a role in The Black Ball, directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (the aforementioned hot Spanish men, who are not only described as next-generation Almodóvars, but are also permanent judges on Drag Race España). She’ll costar in that with Penelope Cruz, musician Guitarricadelafuente, and comedian Julio Torres, among others. Now she’s apparently back in Germany, finishing up filming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping while juggling promotion for Wake Up Dead Man (aka Knives Out 3) before its release next week on Netflix. She’s also set to star in a British limited series as a serial killer. You never know what she’ll be up to next.
Lest you think people are making fun of Close online, we assure you, that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s more an adoration and amazement for her continued prolificacy, bravery, and total commitment, no matter the project. “Obsessed by Glenn Close just having as much fun as she can,” wrote one Twitter user. “It remains wild to me that a woman who gives 210 percent to every single f*cking role that she gets, regardless of the movie’s scope or prestige, still doesn’t have an Oscar,” wrote another. Yes, there is the fact that Close has the most Oscar nominations of any living actor without a win. That the dubious distinction doesn’t seem to haunt her only adds to her charm.
The younger set might feel surprised by Close’s renaissance. She is, after all, regarded as one of the world’s greatest actresses. She has three Tony Awards, three Emmy Awards, and four honorary Doctorates. Across stage and screen, she’s played Norma Desmond, Blanche DuBois, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Hamlet’s Queen Gertrude. Perhaps there’s a naïve Gen Z assumption that most of her earlier career has been in stuffy dramas and “dignified” high-brow projects, so to see her do something camp might come as a delightful shock. (Millennials likely made a similar assumption about Judi Dench, despite the fact that her pop culture breakthrough was in a string of BBC sitcoms).
Even while she quietly breaks your heart in films like The Wife or Albert Nobbs, she’s always had a taste for the outrageous and the comedic. She played Cruella de Vil in the live-action version of 101 Dalmations, and showed up to the premiere in full costume long before method dressing was a thing. She’s regularly popped into Springfield, Illinois over the past three decades to voice Homer’s mother on The Simpsons. She once donned a full faux beard during a cameo in Hook, on a lark. A quick Google search tells me she voiced “Queen Ambisextra” in an animated French science-fiction movie. The single most famous scene of her entire storied career involves her boiling a bunny rabbit. A good actor can explore all sides of the human condition with equal commitment, and a fulfilled professional who loves what they do always finds a way to enjoy themselves.
Let the “Bach-Glenn-alia” continue with full force. If Close never wins an Oscar, at least she can say she had more fun than almost anyone in Hollywood history. And if she does take home a gold statue? Well, it might be her most viral moment yet.
