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“I don't want to repeat myself because I think I'd be really bored.” Considering the number of iconic women that have worked on Ryan Murphy projects, it’s shocking Glenn Close hasn’t. That’s changing with Hulu’s All’s Fair. “I was intimidated until I started to understand the tone. And once I understood the tone, then it became really fun.” Close plays Dina, a powerful lawyer in an all-female firm that includes actors Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash and Naomi Watts, among others. “To bring all that energy...and all that experience together is bound to create something really unique.” It also created a special bond. “This group of women, they’ll be my friends for the rest of my life.” Part of what keeps Close working, beyond immense talent, is that she refuses to repeat herself—“I’m basically up for anything as long as it represents a new exploration.” She’ll next be seen in Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, offered the same week as All’s Fair. “I got two Ryans in the same week. It was like, what?” SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARTING SHOT WITH H. ALAN SCOTT ON APPLE PODCASTS OR SPOTIFY AND WATCH ON YOUTUBE Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication. Every one of my generation starts with the first Glenn Close movie they saw was 101 Dalmatians, always. Not the case with me. I was a 12-year-old and my father had rented Fatal Attraction, and I watched it. And I was obsessed. How does it feel to have had an impact on a generation of people who go to the movies? Oh, what a lovely thing to say. I've been in this profession for over 50 years. And I remember when I, my best friend was Mary Beth Hurt, and I was hired—my first professional job—to understudy her. This is in 1974, we were doing a play on Broadway, I remember saying to her, "I can't wait ‘til I can say I've been in this for 10 years." And now it’s 50. How does that feel? It feels great. And I’m just as in wonder of and curious about what it means to do what we do in this profession, and excited that I'm still getting employed, Yeah, it's been an incredible blessing. I mean, even this group of women that's in All’s Fair, they'll be my friends for the rest of my life. You know, so it's a huge gift. You've always been a character actress. Everything you do is so vastly different than the last thing you've done. And All's Fair is, I think, another example of that. Every role is different. Is that important to you? I don't want to repeat myself because I think I'd be really bored. What comes out of my mouth is really important, so I try not to risk what's written on the page. But other than that, I'm basically up for anything as long as it represents a new exploration as some character. What about All’s Fair was new to you? What stood out to you? I've never done a Ryan Murphy show. Which is kind of crazy. I would have expected you to have been in something like that. I don't know, I'm the one woman in this incredible cast that has not done multiple Ryan Murphy shows. You will now. Yeah. But again, it was scary. I was intimidated until I started to understand the tone. And once I understood the tone, then it became really fun. Were you surprised by the online reaction to you being in a project with Kim Kardashian? Because those names don't all go together. No, I wasn’t. I expected it. What did you make of it? I hope when they see the show that they get value from it. And I have to say, I'm very impressed with Kim. I mean she is a kind, incredibly smart woman who came to this project with great humility. She said, "I'm not gonna ever make anybody wait, and I'm gonna always know my lines," which is basically 101 professional, right? But I just heard in one of the interviews—I was with her today—she would be talking with an acting coach after wrap, it could have been 11:30 at night, to prepare for the next day. I mean, not everybody does that. You know what it reminds me of? The stories of Marilyn Monroe on set, that she would always do that, have her acting coach. She'd always be on the phone or fly her acting coach out, do a film, and it seems similar to what Kim did. Well, Kim, I don't think she was intimidated. I don't think she's a woman who really gets intimidated, but I think that she realized that those around her had a lot of experience and the smartest thing to do is watch and listen and learn, which is what, you know, all of us do our entire career. You know, if you're lucky to work with great people, you see what they're doing and you try to learn from that. What about this character stood out to you? Well, when Ryan called me up and said he wanted me to be a lawyer, my first reaction was, I've done Damages, where everyone said "she was a b****," and I always said if she was a man, they wouldn't say that. And I didn't want to be that kind of character, and he assured me that she was kind of the matriarch, she was the mentor, she had trained these women, said I'd have nice clothes, which was, you know, I've done some crazy roles lately with wardrobe that is unexpected. What is different about this character? What stood out to you about this character? Again, when this first conversation with Ryan, I said, "I want to have a long-term, loving, fulfilled marriage." Because I have personally never experienced that, unfortunately. But I also think in the context of all the divorces and the backstories of the women who are my partners in this, I thought it would really be wonderful to have somebody who has had that in her life. And also in the history of Glenn Close performances, they don't always have marriage stability, the characters. So this is actually very new for you, which is nice. Yeah, it is. With this cast, having your name attached to it already sealed the deal, but the rest of this cast is, not only impressive, but it's insanely different and diverse for a show on television, or really even in film, too. I don't think there's another film or a TV that is like this show. So what was it about this cast that was enjoyable to work with, but also stood out as different? Well, everybody came with their own incredible gifts. Sarah Paulson, what she does in the show is outrageous. Outrageous. It's epic. And there's some scenes that I think will become epic. One of them is with Kim, which is just, whenever I think about it, it just makes me laugh. And Naomi [Watts], I mean. Everybody, Niecy [Nash]. And Teyana? Teyana [Taylor] is a force of nature. Everybody has had kind of extraordinary careers. To bring all that energy together and all that experience together is bound to create something really unique. Yeah, and special probably. I mean, it's Ryan Murphy, so people are going to be talking about it regardless. Yeah. [Chuckles] How is this character different from Patty in Damages? She's not as damaged as Patty Hewes. I mean, the brilliance of Damages was that it was the last episode with that incredible scene that Patty Hewes has with her dying father when you realized that she basically is the one who has been damaged. And dealing with her damage has created the woman that she is. I don't think Dina is damaged the way Patty is. I think she's had, again, I think she's had the great opportunity or the great gift of a loving relationship. Oftentimes I watch a film of yours or a performance of yours on television and something is revealed at the end with the character that makes me wanna go back and watch how you gave us the signs of what was coming through that character throughout. Do you find that stands out to you through your performances, that in some way you're able to convey something that makes people wanna go back and watch it again and again to see where that character ultimately went? Well, I did two plays with Mike Nichols way back, The Real Thing that I did with Jeremy [Irons], and I remember Mike Nichols saying to us one day that we should always have secrets. And I think secrets for an actor playing a certain character are very powerful because I like to imagine certain things that might have happened in their life that don't even come up in the piece, but might inform behavior in a way that might be a little unexpected, you know? So I think secrets are powerful, because people can sense that there's something, and they're not quite sure what it is, and sometimes it's revealed, and sometimes, it stays a secret. Had you ever, before joining this show, watched Kim at all? And have you since? I haven't, I think I've watched one, a couple. Niecy hadn't watched them either. I don't think Kim minds? I find it hard to watch reality shows, frankly, because I don't think they're necessarily real. When I was talking to Sarah Paulson she was like "Oh doing this show I want to be on Keeping up With the Kardashians," like she wanted to find a way to be on it. Well, we ended up on it. I mean, yes, now I know you did. You were one of first film actors to really validate television acting in a way that not many had done before, with The Shield and then going into Damages. But I did Something About Amelia before that. My second thing, I did [The World According to] Garp, and then I was offered Something About Amelia and was told that it would ruin my movie career. Because it was when TV was here and film was here. Well, and you were dominating film, too. I was just starting my career. And my answer has always been, "Well the English do it, why can't we?" It depends on the writing. Do you think on television now, and especially since Damages and then this, that there are more unique roles for women on television than there have been previously? Oh, definitely. Definitely. I go back to HBO. Well, when I started in television, the first thing I produced was for Hallmark Hall of Fame. That was before HBO. And Hallmark was where all the quality television was being done. If you could think of some of those great movies that they did. And then it was very much producer-driven. And then when cable came in, the writers were given more freedom and more weight. And then Sopranos happened and here we are, that started to change the landscape of television. And all these streamers, in some ways they're like independent movie companies in that a lot of these movies are of that caliber, or they can be. But even before Sopranos, I mean, I'm thinking of Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story in the mid-'90s. Watching that, in that era, a true story about a woman coming out in the military, it was a political statement in a lot of ways. It was still, "don't ask don't tell." You were using television as a statement piece.That must have been seismic even just for you. It was. I mean, they was not much gay on TV. And we got extraordinary letters, you know, saying "I was considering suicide and I saw this and I realized that I am of value." Yeah, I mean, the kiss you and Judy Davis had, I think, is one of the first on television, really, between of any gender, but two women. That was so fascinating for me because for maybe 90 seconds, I knew what it was to be gay. Oh really? Yeah, absolutely. In what way? What do you mean? Just, it was natural. It was something natural. I mean, you won every award for that. So it definitely shows how natural it was and how good. I had a great partner with that one, yeah. You've said things about having not won the Academy Award, but that hasn't stopped fans from talking about how you need an Academy Award. So how does that feel, the public's reaction to you not having that honor? I appreciate it. I've always said that to be in the room is everything, and I honestly believe that. To be in this profession for 50 years and still be in the room, that's incredible because it's a brutal profession. Highly, highly competitive. Exhausting. But I'm now starting to say, "It'd be nice. You know, it'd really be nice." Because I think it does kind of change maybe how people within the business look at you. Is that important to you? For getting great parts, yes. You want to get great parts. You want get parts that give you a run for their money, your money. You know, get all the gears working. It's about the part. Another validation of you is, I mean we'll go to see your movies, we'll watch you on television, but your Instagram, we're obsessed with your Instagram. Did you expect yourself to become as big of an Instagram celebrity as Kim Kardashian, just by being you? No, I'm not as big as Kim. No way. You go viral, Glenn. Often. Yeah, no, I'm always fighting with that. I'm also aware of, "Oh, there's a beautiful sunset. I should maybe take a picture of it" And I say, "No! Just be in the moment and look at the sunset and not think you have to [take a photo]." But at the same time, I feel a great love from a lot of people. And also, I think I like being silly and stupid and, you know, people think of me as such a kind of serious person, and I'm really not. And so I think it started during COVID when I did some of those characters. Yes, I reposted all of them. So maybe I should do that again. Can you still do the Cruella laugh? Yes. Do you want me to do it? Please! Do you want me to do it right now? That's all I care about, I need it. Ha ha ha ha [Cruella Laughs] Also to have you say, "I'm not going to be ignored" in that way from Fatal Attraction is another thing fans can't get enough of. Do you know that scene where I say "I'm not going to be ignored, Dan." Adrian Lyne had to stop and tell all the crew to go get a cup of coffee because I couldn't get it. I said, "There's something wrong, there is something wrong, I can't find it, do we need this line, blah blah blah." And we got through it, and we did it and I got through, but I realized afterwards I was wearing this little teddy. I felt totally exposed. You know, it was, so "I'm not gonna be ignored, Dan." It came from a place of real fragility. Somebody who was not comfortable in her skin. And as an actress at that moment, that was me.
