Glenn Close took home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama at the 2019 76th Annual Golden Globes, for her leading role in The Wife. It was her third Golden Globes win. Lady Gaga had been predicted to win the award for her performance in A Star Is Born, and Close showed her surprise at the win when her name was called.
Glenn Close’s reaction to her best actress win for #TheWife t.co/HVkJi3ZWdS #GoldenGlobes
Once she received her award, she began her speech by acknowledging her “category sisters,” to whom she said “we’ve gotten to know each other a little bit so far and I can’t wait to spend more time with you.” She shared the category, and the Best Actress award, with Lady Gaga, Melissa McCarthy, Rosamund Pike, and Nicole Kidman.
When thanking The Wife‘s creative team for their passion and for keeping her tied to the project, she joked “It was called The Wife. I think that’s why it took 14 years to get made.”
The most memorable part of her speech happened when she shared a story about her mother, whom she said she was thinking about as she reflected on her character who was “so internal” to play. She said:
“I’m thinking about my mom, who really sublimating 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. I feel what I’ve learned from this whole experience is that women, you know, we’re nurturers. That’s what’s expected of us. We have our children, we have our husbands if we’re 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.”
After pausing to accept thunderous applause and a standing ovation from an audience of her Hollywood peers, Close concluded by saying “You know, when I was little, I felt like Muhammad Ali who was destined to be a boxer. I felt destined to be an actress. I saw all the early Disney films… and I said ‘Oh, I can do that.’ And here I am today. It will have been 40 years in September that I am a working actress, and I cannot imagine a more wonderful life.”
According to IMDB, Close previously won Golden Globes in 2008 for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama” for her work in Damages, and in 2005 for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television” for The Lion in Winter. She has been nominated for the Golden Globes 14 times.