From bunny boiler to hillbilly matriarch – the many faces of Glenn Close

It’s easy to view Glenn Close as Hollywood’s favourite female monster, writes Geoffrey Macnab. But as her latest role in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ shows, her performances are always layered and nuanced

Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (Rex Features)

She boiled a bunny in Fatal Attraction. She terrified kids as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians and put the fear of god into her adult adversaries in courtroom drama Damages. She was, the critics all agreed, an “imperious” Norma Desmond in the stage musical version of Sunset Boulevard, a role she is expected to play again on screen. This month, she can be seen as a frizzy-haired, redneck harridan in Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy.

On the basis of these roles, it’s easy to view Glenn Close as Hollywood’s favourite female monster. She is the go-to star for misogynistic casting directors when they want someone to portray the boss from hell, the crazy ex-girlfriend or the neurotic, high maintenance Hollywood has-been. Close can certainly convey jealousy and vengefulness with a demented fury that few of her contemporaries can match. She will probably be first choice as Clytemnestra – the Greek queen who murdered her husband in revenge for his sacrifice of their daughter – if the US studios ever get round to filming The Oresteia.

“I think a strong woman is still considered aberrant,” Close told The Daily Telegraph recently, musing on why her characters are judged so harshly and often to come to very bad ends.