Glenn Close bags Oscar and Razzie nods for her Hillbilly Elegy performance
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Glenn Close's instantly iconic Hillbilly Elegy performance as Mamaw has perched-and-swiveled its way to a peculiar milestone.
On Oscar nominations morning, Close scored her landmark eighth overall notice from the Academy — days after the Razzies named her turn as the no-nonsense Appalachian grandmother opposite Amy Adams in Ron Howard's Netflix melodrama as one of the year's worst performances.
Lacey Terrell/NETFLIX Glenn Close as Mamaw in 'Hillbilly Elegy'
Close's curious "achievement" is not singular in the context of Hollywood history, as Amy Irving (Barbra Streisand's Yentl) and James Coco (Only When I Laugh) were previously nominated for both Oscars and Razzies for the same performance in 1984 and 1982, respectively.
Other actors have received nominations for Oscars and Razzies in the same year, but for different performances, including Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me? and The Happytime Murders), Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side and All About Steve), and Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men and both Hoffa and Man Trouble).
Though critics were unkind to the fact-based Hillbilly Elegy (many took issue with the film's source author's political views), about an Ivy League law student, J.D Vance (Gabriel Basso), who's called home to care for his drug-addicted mother (Adams), industry affection for Close's performance trekked through awards season relatively unscathed. Since the film's release late last year, Close has earned nominations from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Critics Choice Awards.
Lacey Terrell/NETFLIX Glenn Close in 'Hillbilly Elegy'
The legendary actress previously told EW she researched Mamaw extensively, interviewing the family, adapting her posture, and donning a bodysuit and face-altering makeup to embody the part.
"I asked how she sat, how she held her cigarette, what her voice was like, what her house looked like — all of that, plus pictures and video that we got, gave me a sense of who she was," Close said. "[It was clear] this is someone who people had vivid and really fond memories of. No matter how fierce she could be, they sensed that, underneath, she was a damaged person herself, but she had this great energy about her in a non-compromising way."
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