Just a few movies into her now-storied career, Glenn Close found herself starring opposite one of the most handsome and popular male movie stars of the time.
In “The Natural,” Robert Redford played an aging baseball player who becomes a phenom. Close played his former girlfriend with whom he reconnects in a memorable scene where his character sees her in the stands, backlit in white, glowing like an angel. He’s mesmerized, and so likely were the moviegoers who remember the 1984 film.
In sports terms, their chemistry was a homerun.
“I think you work with an actor and you get the sense you can trust them… you can create together the belief in the audience that you are deeply in love with each other,” Close said, reflecting on the film, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress, in a conversation with Brianna Keilar and Boris Sanchez on CNN News Central on Tuesday.
She added: “I also think that, personally, less is more. I think we see so much today of people ripping their clothes off and eating each other, basically, that it doesn’t mean anything anymore. I think we’ve become inured to that. What’s most powerful is sometimes the simplest.”
“The Natural” ended up being the start of Close’s professional relationship and deeply loving friendship with Redford – who died Tuesday at age 89 – that would span decades.
Close described Redford as “a man who put his money and his life into what he believed in.” His Sundance Institute being one of them.
“He was a great friend. I learned a lot from him,” Close, who served on the board of the Institute for several years, added. “He had the heart and soul of an artist – a true artist.”
Close spoke to CNN from Germany where she was preparing for a new film when someone mentioned the news. She admitted that she “had to leave the room for a bit” after hearing about Redford’s death.
“I think I’m still in a bit of shock and denial, frankly,” she said.
She’s not alone.
Redford’s reach – as a talent, environmentalist and champion of the arts – has placed him in a status and favor in Hollywood that is achieved by few and, when lost, recognized by many. That is certainly the case here, with Redford’s peers recognizing him for the qualities named above and so many more.
Close perhaps put it best with a fittingly simple thought: “I think we owe him a huge debt.”