Glenn Close in THE DELIVERANCE (2024) Lee Daniels | © Netflix
Oscar obsessives everywhere know the dark and winding road of 'what if' like the back of their hand. What if my favorite had won? How would that change things down the line? What's the domino effect in Oscar history? What about film history? It can be a fun exercise, but it's also a shortcut to madness if you're not careful about it. That's especially true when considering one of those Academy Award sad sacks, the unlucky few who've earned multiple nominations yet never get the gold. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - the Deborah Kerrs and Peter O'Tooles of the world. Or, for a more contemporary example, the Glenn Closes.
Speaking of that Oscar-less titan, her new movie is now in theaters and will soon arrive on Netflix. As we wait for Lee Daniels' The Deliverance to hit streaming, let's celebrate Close with some awards lunacy. Let's reflect on what would have happened if she had been victorious in one of those eight bids for gold…
1982) Best Supporting Actress, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP
If Close had won in 1982, Jessica Lange would have probably become an instant cause célèbre among awards voters and industry insiders. Such goodwill could have propelled her to a 1984 victory for Country, blocking Sally Field's second win and infamous acceptance speech. Erasing the "you like me!" spiel, a groundswell of support may have materialized later in 1989 when the actress got some buzz for Steel Magnolias. That would be bad news for Pauline Collins or Isabelle Adjani.
But what about Lange? Without the urgency to give her a Best Actress trophy, does Blue Sky still survive its troubled release? Maybe so, since the category was so weird in 1994. Another possibility is Sarandon's premature crowning, which throws the following year's Best Actress race in disarray. I suspect Elisabeth Shue might have somersaulted over the Dead Man Walking star, delivering a pair of His & Hers Oscars to Leaving Las Vegas. If that narrative had surged at the right time, the film might have even landed a Best Picture nod.
1983) Best Supporting Actress, THE BIG CHILL
Winning the Oscar over Linda Hunt changes very little in awards history. The likeliest outcome is a subtle tone change. Instead of coming to every new race as a living legend done dirty by the Academy, she'd get the late-00s/early-10s Meryl Streep treatment. It's not so much a matter of correcting a wrong as it is an eagerness to underline an actress' place in history with another little golden man.
1984) Best Supporting Actress, THE NATURAL
Same thing as with her hypothetical Big Chill win, perchance with an added understanding that she won for a nothing role. That fate could stoke the flames of urgency, making press and industry thirsty to see Close take the stage for a performance worthy of the honor, an Oscar triumph better suited to her legacy. All in all, nothing else would be too different.
1987) Best Actress, FATAL ATTRACTION
A Close victory in '87 wouldn't so much alter the course of Oscar history as it would induce wider industry change. Fatal Attraction's nominations were already a shocking legitimization of erotic thrillers. Still, a Best Actress win could have opened the gates for further hybridization of pulp and prestige, drawing bigger and bigger names into the folds of sex and murder on the big screen. Would that have hastened or delayed the subgenre's decreasing popularity as the world approached the new millennium? Hard to say, but fascinating to imagine.
As for Cher, an Oscar loss for Moonstruck might have put an end to her acting dreams, robbing us of such delights as Mermaids and If These Walls Could Talk. Then again, the reverse could be true. Instead of accepting defeat, the songstress turned movie star could have become even more involved in Hollywood, fighting for that industry validation she was denied. Right now, Cher's Oscar win feels like an ending to the story of her big-screen adventure. Everything else that came after is epilogue. Had she lost, there could have been another chapter to the tale, another verse in the epic poem of her search for glory.
1988) Best Actress, DANGEROUS LIAISONS
By far, Glenn Close's 1988 loss is the most frustrating in retrospect. Nobody knew then, but Jodie Foster was just three years away from a career-defining performance in The Silence of the Lambs, one of those works whose merit is so obvious it's like a black hole bending light around it. That 1991 win for Foster is written in stone, one of the cornerstones of Oscar history that no amount of willful conjecture and 'what if' daydreaming could deny. So that's it. Give Close the Oscar she deserved in 1988, and nothing else changes. Hallelujah!
2011) Best Actress, ALBERT NOBBS
The butterfly effect here mostly concerns Meryl Streep. Take away her Iron Lady win, and that feeling of "it's about time they give her a third" prevails in cinephile circles and in the industry at large. I doubt that would have had much effect on the 2013 and 2014 races – Blanchett was too big a juggernaut and Into the Woods wasn't popular enough. However, 2016 might have been a different story. At the very least, her nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins wouldn't have been seen as such a shocking surprise. Get to 2017 and the goodwill is reaching unforeseen levels, resulting in a win for The Post, only slightly postponing Frances McDormand's return to the Oscar stage.
2018) Best Actress, THE WIFE
What if the expected outcome had come to pass? One hopes Close would have had a better slew of post-Wife projects than she did, perhaps leading her away from the dreck of Hillbilly Elegy. In that case, one supposes Helena Zengel or Dominique Fishback could have crashed the party or that year's Golden Globe winner, Jodie Foster. Without Close, Hillbilly Elegy's struggles only intensify, decreasing its buzz until not even that Makeup nod feels viable. Instead, one of the other finalists scores that honor. Birds of Prey, The Glorias, Jingle Jangle, The Little Things, and One Night in Miami are our contenders, and I have a hunch that the Washington/Leto thriller would get it.
That leaves the matter of Olivia Colman. Considering how much AMPAS loved The Father, it's not inconceivable to picture a world where she takes Best Supporting Actress from Youn Yuh-jung. However, a 2021 victory for The Lost Daughter feels more believable. Consider that not one Best Actress contender that year got all the precursors, and that Jessica Chastain's win was a late-season development. There were even talks of a Penelope Cruz upset. But with a Favourite loss in people's memories, wouldn't Colman have the best narrative going into Oscar night? Seems like a viable alternative to me.
2020) Best Supporting Actress, HILLBILLY ELEGY
It's hard to picture a great change coming from this Close victory. Youn's career wouldn't have been much affected since her Hollywood opportunities remain limited. There may have been more of an industry push to get her an Emmy nod for Pachinko, though that sounds doubtful. The only consequence of note might have been greater scrutiny put on J.D. Vance's life story, unearthing his sheer 'weirdness' before he became Donald Trump's running mate. Oh well, that's too real for this lark of an article, so let's forget about the couch-fucker.
Please don't take any of this seriously. It's just silly fun from an Oscar obsessive. That doesn't mean your own Glenn Close-related alternate timelines are unwelcome. Share them in the comments!