It's Her Time, Glenn Close Will Not Be Ignored
Monday, January 7, 2019 at 1:00PM 
Glenn Close won Best Actress - Drama at the Golden Globes for her performance in The Wife. And she gave a performance in delivering her acceptance speech that is almost as great as the performance she won for. While we have no doubt that Close was genuine, it was also fantastic television. It started with her shocked reaction - did her publicist’s keep telling her that the Globes wouldn't miss a chance to reward Lady Gaga like all the pundits did? She continued by kissing Michael “Fatal Attraction Dan” Douglas and Lady Gaga on the way to the stage. Once she got there she she gave an eloquent, emotional, yet composed and smart speech.
She didn’t forget her “category sisters"...
She thanked the writers Meg Wolitzer who wrote the book and Jane Anderson who adapted it for film. As savvy an actor as she is she thanked her director for all the closeups he gave her, she knows that’s why she won. Building the crescendo of the speech she came to the meat of it where she blended her narrative - an actor of 45 years with a great body of work who has not yet been been embraced fully by her industry - with the struggle to make the movie “14 years because it was called The Wife” - with a personal ode to her mother which mirrors the story of the character she plays. And finally she combines that personal ode with a rallying cry for all women to demand more for themselves. Take it away Glenn:
“To play a character is so internal. And I’m thinking of my mom who really sublimated herself to my father her whole life and in her 80s she said to me, “I feel I haven’t accomplished anything.” And it was so not right and I feel what I’ve learned through this whole experience is that, you know, women, we are nurturers, that’s what’s expected of us. We have our children. We have our husbands if we are lucky enough, and our partners, whoever. But we have to find personal fulfillment. We have to follow our dreams. We have to say, “I can do that and I should be allowed to do that.”
What a speech!
She was emotional, cracking her voice as she spoke. She inspired the audience to give her a standing ovation right there and then. We all could see the love for her in the room. We saw it in the faces of Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Yeoh and others as the camera cut away. There is no denying it, they were inspired and moved. Earlier in the evening Olivia Colman gave a delightful and pithy speech that was just as endearing as Glenn’s but not as grand or poignant. This is now a two-way race for the Oscar that does not include Lady Gaga and that has Glenn Close firmly in the lead.
What did you think of Glenn's speech?
Related:
Reader Comments (61)
Her reaction is PURE GOLD and makes me tear up each time!! Bravo Glenn! Oscar awaits!
Sometimes all it takes is a great speech that gains you more respect than you already had.
Did Gaga not winning put a serious dent in her chances of being nominated.
I wonder if Madonna had a sip of "Tea" when Gaga lost.
I liked her speech because it seemed genuine and you could see she had a little trouble getting through it, although it was at least to some degree pre-planned. I'm not sure I'm totally on board with the "the speech will help her win the Oscar" aspect.
The Globes are still an extremely small deciding body compared to SAG and the Oscars, so we don't completely know the temperature for a Close win yet. Colman got a big boost too and people will have been surprised at how funny she came across in her speech. Obviously Lady Gaga's chances (as well as A Star Is Born as a whole) took a hit, but they may easily bounce back at the Oscars. But, indeed, now Close cannot be ignored.
I was so happy Close won. That made enduring a lot of those awful, endless speeches a lot more bearable. The fact that her speech was eloquent and straight from the heart made those other windbags look that much worse (we finally muted Farelly).
I would love to see her win the Oscar. We shall see.
The thing is... the win was a legit surprise. I think her reaction was 100% genuine making her speech all the more believable and incredible. And WOW what a speech it was. It hit ALL the right notes. I do think her speech helped a lot so we'll see in the weeks to come... buckle up folks!
What a wonderful speech, I had tears while listening to her. It's her time! :-)
I think the HFPA are hacks (there are only 93 of them, and they are easily bribed like giving all those major awards to Bohemian Rhapsody), but I do think it was nice that they honored Glenn. Her speech was the best of the night, and hopefully she musters enough support to win at SAG and Oscar.
Glenn has clearly jumped to the front of the race, as deserved. It's not a done deal, but pretty close. Coleman is her only competition, but, as more and more people realize she's actually in the film on screen less than Emma Stone, there might be some reservations for giving Best Actress to an ensemble player. Gaga is out of the race. She will have to be happy with an original song Oscar.
Spot on! Her speech was the emotional highlight of the night, and I don't even feel particularly strongly about this category (having seen only two of the five nominated performances).
The speech online:
https://twitter.com/bimboy_palaboy/status/1082138101894377472
I am her biggest fan and I did not expected her win last night. What a big and great surprise!
Piss me off seeing someone who will celebrate 45 years on the business only receving they well deserved awards now at 45, but I am still alive to see this!
I hope
Ralph Fiennes
Michelle Pfeiffer
Sigourney Weaver
Ian McKellen
Max Von Sydow
Liv Ullmann
Catherine Deneuve
Isabelle Huppert
Gong Li
Wins in the future next!
That was the most genuine, delightful winner's reaction of the night. And WHAT a speech! If that didn't clinch her the win, I don't know what would.
I never saw GaGa as the front runner. It’s between Close and Coleman . Gaga will get her prize in song.
Loved it. Love her. So happy at her win.
Dublin_zoetrope must be shaking right now!
After that speech, I am entirely in Close's camp.
Could you imagine if Gaga missed the Best Actress Oscar lineup entirely and Toni Colette got in instead?
@DAVID: Would be a dream come true for me as a Colette fan as well. My ideal nominee list would be:
Close - win
Colman - close 2nd
Colette - close 3rd
Emma Stone - close 4th
McCarthy
C'mon bad version of 45 Years, let's get that statue!
@DAVID I thought the same and I still think something similar will happen
I can't watch her speech without sobbing. What a moment! My heart is so full. Thank you Universe.
All I wanted from this award season is a Glenn Close coronation and this surprised and deserved win is unfurling the red carpet to her path to victory.
@Nick Davis: Beloved Close goes from Bridesmaid to Pet with her fourth best actress nod and 1st win.
@DAVID / @Brown Cow Stunning-
Could very realistically happen... I'd incline to image the people voting for Toni Colette will give her the lions share of 1st Place rankings.
Whereas Lady Gaga might be on a bigger number of ballots, but perhaps in the 4th or 5th spot rankings.
Who knows!!
The multiple standing ovations were amazing.
One lesson I’m learning is to avoid making predictions based on 20-30-year-old data points. The people who gave Cher an Oscar are gone. The people who picked Madonna over Frances McDormand are gone. For better or worse, these groups rearrange their habits/priorities over time.
But the HFPA people who rolled out the “overdue” red carpet for Kate (08) and Julianne (15) when the timing was right? Still very much around. They also resisted Beyonce in 2006, and have been very “on again” with Glenn this century—remember her Best Song nomination?
If you only counted their behavior since 2000 it would have been obvious that Glenn was winning, IMO. Like many, I didn't see it.
Did A Star Is Born suffer from placing itself in the wrong category I wonder?
It feels like Gaga is a bit out the race, I agree with @DAVID's line up, that would be a dream. Gaga makes way for Toni Collette, and move Emma Stone to leading, to make way for Michelle Yeoh in supporting. Perfect.
YAY GLENN!!!!! It's within touching distance.
I am so happy for Glenn. The speech was an all-timer and so moving.
Still, I don't think Gaga is out as of yet. The snubbings of ASIB feel off. I think she's still got a shot.
If "A Star is Born" suffered from wrong category confusion, then that should also apply to "Bohemian Rhapsody," which it clearly didn't. What applies to one should apply to the other in theory.
Close is the greatest actress alive.
I'm with her.
She's going to win all she deserves.
Is there is some actors and actresses with 3 Oscars, Glenn should have it too.
re: ASIB suffering because of categorization. Putting aside whether it's correct to put it in drama or musical, I'm not sure it would've had a better shot against Green Book. The Globes people seemed to like that film as much as Boho.
Just think with us if AMPAS decided to nominated all The Favourite girls as Leading Actresses 😱
Would be Glenn / Melissa / Olivia / Rachel? Oh Lord, I will love that!
But I am still thinking as the group here: Glenn / Olivia / Melissa / Toni / Emma
Supporting I want Tilda in Emma's "place". But Michelle will be loved too!
Close is the greatest actress alive.
I'm with her.
She's going to win all she deserves.
Is there is some actors and actresses with 3 Oscars, Glenn should have it too.
The best moment of the night.
Love to see the glowing and delighted words for Glenn Effing Close!
I was so late in the game having only read the Golden Globes outcome today but I had to stop what i was doing and shouted a hallelujah-like word (but not hallelujah) of happiness. Oh man, I can't believe this. It was like when Isabelle Huppert won the Globes. Unexpected yet so utterly utterly deserved!
I would not count Gaga yet in the final Oscar lineup just because the Hollywood Foreign Press bestowed Close a major lift. But Close's speech was what I'd expect the emancipated Joan Castleman would have said to her close family after revealing who wrote what and what that meant to her and her life from now on. Love the shoutout to her fellow actresses, her late mom, and to the people in The Wife.
And may I say Ms Close looked lovely onstage! And those ovations, my oh my!
Loved her speech! Wish Regina King (who I like very much) had not been texting during it! She's a legend, put the phone away.
LOL all the movie critics scrambling to change their predictions!
Great speech give that woman her Oscar.
To be honest I've never thought of Gaga as a front runner like most people, for me it always was: CLOSE, COLMAN, McCARTHY, MULLIGAN and in the 5th spot THERON, WEISZ, KIDMAN, PIKE COLLETTE or ROBERTS. God bless this year.
Could Glenn Close's momentum lift Jonathan Pryce into a Supporting Actor nomination (maybe at Timothee Chalamet's expense)?
The just covered Close's speech on the NBC NIGHTLY NEWS. It was the only thing they covered in terms of last night's show.
I didn't watch the show, but I watched her acceptance speech on Youtube (yes, Carol Burnette, you will live forever on that site, thank the gods), and I went through at least five tissues. What a beautiful, empowering speech. I don't believe I saw her in anything before "The Big Chill", but ever since that movie, I have thought she's easily second only to Meryl Streep when it comes to the best actors currently working.
Its clear : Close, Collman, Gaga, Mc charty and Aparicio.....
she's been practicing her oscar speech for 36 years - it's gonna be epic
I wish the script for The Wife were up to Glenn Close's improvised gratitude and empathy.
I wasn't that surprised she won. She has had something like 15 GG noms with two wins while other actors/actresses have more wins with less noms. I don't know - just doing the math seemed like she would win, like she was due this year. I'm basing it solely on numbers. So what do I know?
I hope she wins the Oscar, where numbers WILL play into the affair: Her speech was stellar, the audience (fellow actors) applauded/respected her with much adoration, and she's 0/6 at the Oscars. The numbers look good in her favor.
Colman should go supporting honestly. She'd win hands down. She's NOT in the right category. It's category fraud! That shouldn't be allowed as it's not fair to other actresses trying to find some Oscar love. Think Kidman, Colette, Aparicio, Mulligan, Davis, Hall, Jones, etc. THEY'RE losing out because one woman, albeit a phenomenal one, is incorrectly being considered for the wrong category. Doesn't anyone else see this? Why have some critics' associations granted Colman a SUPPORTING win? BECAUSE SHE"S SUPPORTING!!
Sorry for the caps, but it irks me to no end.
For the purpose of continuity, GO GLENN!!!
Coleman's role is borderline--most of her critics prizes are for lead actress, not supporting. Can we acknowledge that some things are ambiguous and not *obviously* one way or another?
Very happy for Glenn and her speech was THE moment from last night. That said, thinking that Gaga is going to miss out on a Best Actress nomination seems wrong-headed. Her chances at winning are a bit more wobbly, but I think the nomination itself is still a lock. If anything, her supporters will probably mobilize if they perceive her as being in danger of not making the cut.
JJM, maybe there should be a Best Ensemble Performance award, for all those films with no leads but three or four or five characters who equally anchor the movie.
What a brilliant inspiring speech!! 👏 I'm glad i held out for Glenn when all pundits jumped onto the Gaga bandwagon! 😁 I believe this is the beginning o Glenn's long o/due coronation! She's v v well loved by her peers as we can see fr the standing ovation!! She's so gonna win SAG next!
Imo, the biggest upset is ASiB losing best film to BR!! Had WB submitted it under musical category as originally assumed. ASiB wld probably won Actor n maybe even Actress n Pic. Served them right for being greedy n tryin to derail Glenn's chances!! The jokes on them now!! 😂
@ JJM Not really when it comes to such a high prize, politically driven or not. There needs to be a % cutoff regarding screen time so that things are fair for all involved in the process of making a movie. Politics are a whole separate issue, but at least the actors could get a leg up. In The Favourite, I believe Stone has more screen time than Colman and is running in the supporting category. That's just not right. How can that even be possible?
I noted a few years back how Glenn Close was top-billed in Reversal of Fortune while being a supporting player. The film received multiple Oscar nods, but how could they even think of nominating Close as lead? She could've been nominated (this was in her heyday), but how confusing it must've been when it was the Jeremy Irons vehicle from the start, especially the way in which the arc of the story was written.
The Favourite isn't as deceiving, but a supporting player with more screen time over the 'lead' just seems absurd to me. I think Oscar voters may feel that way as well. I don't really know Colman, but I'm already a fan of hers. She's a delight. However, I think Close is on her way to Oscar unless the SAG Awards are a major surprise.
I sang at this. Congratulations Academy Award WINNER Glenn Close.
FYC:
+45 minutes of Screen Time = LEAD!
-44 minutes of Screen Time = SUPPORTING!
Always the Hours...
Wow, I didn't realize Kidman bad 45 minutes of screen time in The Hours. I would have guessed 30 minutes max.