Not a fan. Glenn Close admitted she didn’t believe that Gwyneth Paltrow‘s performance in Shakespeare in Love was worthy of her 1999 Oscar win.
The Hillbilly Elegy star, 73, opened up about her thoughts on the Academy Awards during an interview with ABC News’ Popcorn with Peter Travers on Tuesday, November 24.
“I honestly feel that to be nominated by your peers is about as good as it gets,” she explained. “And then, I’ve never understood how you could honestly compare performances, you know? I remember the year Gwyneth Paltrow won over that incredible actress who was in Central Station [Fernanda Montenegro] and I thought, ‘What?’ It doesn’t make sense.”
Close added that she believes more than just acting goes into consideration when picking a winner at the Academy Awards.
“So, I think who wins has a lot of things to do with how things have been, you know, whether it has traction or whatever,” she said. “Publicity, how much money did they have to put it out in front of everybody’s sight. I have to be philosophical about it, if I was upset about it …”
She continued, “I’m very proud of the times that my peers have felt that my performance was worthy of attention.”
Paltrow, 48, won Best Actress in 1999, beating out Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth, Fernanda Montenegro for Central Station, Meryl Streep for One True Thing and Emily Watson for Hilary and Jackie.
Close, for her part, has received seven Oscar nominations throughout her career but hasn’t secured any wins.
Although Paltrow’s performance in Shakespeare in Love became a monumental role in her career, the actress almost didn’t join the cast. The Avengers: Endgame star told Variety in February 2019 that her split from Brad Pitt influenced her decision to accept the part of cross-dressing actress Viola de Lesseps.
“I was in the middle of a terrible breakup [with Pitt], and the idea of going to England and being far from home just seemed … I didn’t even read it,” she said at the time. “I was just like, ‘I can’t read anything right now. I’m having a really hard time.’”
However, once Paltrow read the script she “couldn’t put it down,” adding, that she thought the story was “perfect.”
Paltrow and Pitt, 56, dated for three years before they ended their engagement in 1997. The Goop founder rebounded with her Shakespeare in Love costar Ben Affleck and went on to marry Chris Martin in 2003 until their split in 2014. The former couple share daughter Apple, 16, and son Moses, 14.
The California native later married Brad Falchuk in 2018, and he even referenced Paltrow’s role in Shakespeare in Love during his vows. “He actually said it’s no coincidence that I played this muse, because that’s who I am to him, and his perception is that’s who I am in real life,” Paltrow told Variety. “It was really sweet.”
