Win or Lose at the Oscars, Glenn Close Is Loving the Moment
时间:2019-02-24 作者:英语课 分类:2019年VOA慢速英语(二)月
Glenn Close is laughing hard as she stands in the doorway 1 to her New York City home. Her loyal little white dog is circling an arriving reporter.
Both are stars in their own right. Close has been a critically praised actor for more than 40 years. Her four-legged friend, Pip, has developed his own large fan base, thanks in part to an appearance on the television show "The View." The dog's Instagram account, under the name "Sir Pippin of Beanfield," is up to 3,400 followers 2.
Unlike his owner, however, Pip has not won three Tony Awards, three Golden Globes, and three Emmys. Close has also been nominated 3 for an Academy Award seven times. She holds the record for number of times nominated for an Oscar without winning, in fact.
Close may finally break with tradition later this month at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California. She is nominated for a best actress Oscar for her performance in the film "The Wife."
She plays Joan Castleman, an obedient 4 and long overlooked 5 wife to a famous writer, played by Jonathan Pryce.
Inside her New York home, Close gives the reporter a bottle of red wine to open as she talks about something that happened a few hours earlier. She was walking Pip in a park when a woman stopped her to talk. The woman told Close about her own story of being held back in her profession by a man. These are the kinds of stories Close has heard a lot since "The Wife" came out and since she won a Golden Globe for her work in the film.
"Another woman crossing the street was like, 'I love you, Glenn!'" Close said.
"People down in the pharmacy 6, they're all cheering me on."
It seems as if everyone sees the 71-year-old star as the leading competitor for the best actress Oscar this year. “The Wife,” an independent film, has made just $9 million in ticket sales since it opened six months ago. But the moment feels like it is meant for a Close win.
So, what would an Academy Award mean to her?
"It would mean a lot but I wouldn't want it to be a pity Oscar because I've been an actress for 45 years," says Close. "People have been going back and looking at my basic body of work and the six times I lost and what those roles were. So I can't pretend it's just for “The Wife.” But I feel like everybody's rooting for me."
But that is not to say Close will be heartbroken if she does not win. She says, "I've decided 7 if I lose, I'm going to look at the camera and say: 'I'm OK.'"
And she is. Better than OK, in fact. Making "The Wife" has been an empowering experience for her.
"It's taken me a long time to gain control of my own life. When I made ‘The Wife,' I was in control of my own life for probably the first time," says Close.
"The Wife" is a feminist 8 work based on Meg Wolitzer's 2003 novel of the same name. It came to Close about six years ago, shortly before she ended her marriage to her third husband.
She said, "I'm at a time in my life where I'm not beholden to anyone. I mean, I always am attached with every molecule 9 in my body to my daughter, whether she likes it or not. But I'm not attached to any partner."
That adult daughter she spoke 10 of, Annie Starke, also appears in “The Wife,” as a younger Joan.
Both Close and Starke thought about the women of their shared family when working on the character of Joan Castleman. At the front of Close's mind was her mother, who married at 18.
In Close’s acceptance speech earlier this year at the Golden Globes, she spoke movingly about how her mother sublimated 11 herself to Close’s father, a successful doctor.
"It broke my heart to hear her say in her late 80s that she had accomplished 12 nothing," Close said, as she began to cry. "You can say, 'But, oh, you're such a good mother. Oh, you stuck it out with dad.' That wasn't the point. It was something else. That's what I think resonated with a lot women about that (Golden Globes) speech."
Starke also thought about her father’s mother. She was a scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II until she was dismissed for being pregnant 13, Starke said.
"I know she always wondered what could have been," Starke said by phone from Los Angeles.
"It was quite a powerful preparation experience," Starke said of working with her mother. "She keeps telling me that she feels like she's at the top of her power. She's getting recognition 14 for something that hit so close to home."
"The Wife" was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017. The #MeToo movement came about not long after. The company Sony Pictures Classic bought the movie but chose to wait to release it in August 2018, timed to get ahead of the awards season rush.
Close says she, like most everyone, thought Lady Gaga was going to win at the Globes for her leading role in “A Star Is Born.”
"I was just kind of going with low expectations," Close said.
All through the awards season, Close has worn her grandmother's wedding ring. It serves as a reminder 15 of the many women who, like Joan Castleman in “The Wife,” surrender their own self-expression to serve a husband or a family.
"She should have been an actress," Close said of her grandmother. "So I feel like they're with me."
The Academy Awards will be held February 24.
I’m Caty Weaver 16. And I’m Ashley Thompson.
Words in This Story
wine - n. an alcoholic 17 drink made from the juice of grapes?
pharmacy - n. a store or part of a store in which drugs and medicines are prepared and sold?
pity - v. to feel sorry for (someone or something)?
root - v. to express or show support for (a person, a team, etc.)?
feminist - n. a belief in equal rights for men and women
beholden - adj. having obligations 18 to (someone)?
accomplish - v. to succeed in doing (something)?
resonate - v. to have particular meaning or importance for someone : to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way
- They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
- Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
- the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
- The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。
- She is an obedient woman.她是位温顺的女人。
- We're absolutely obedient to the superior.我们绝对服从上级。
- He seems to have overlooked one important fact. 他好像忽略了一个重要的事实。
- This is a minor point, but it must not be overlooked. 此事虽小,然亦不可忽视。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
- She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
- Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。
- This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
- There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
- She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
- From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起,男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。
- A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
- This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- Their affection to each other was sublimated into a lasting friendship. 他俩之间的感情被升华成一种永久的友谊。 来自互联网
- Finally migrates the utilization, sublimated to the text the understanding. 最后是迁移运用,升华对文本的理解。 来自互联网
- Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
- Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
- She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
- She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。
- The place has changed beyond recognition.这地方变得认不出来了。
- A sudden smile of recognition flashed across his face.他脸上掠过一丝笑意,表示认识对方。
- I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
- It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知,她才付应该交的房租。
- She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快,而且布的质量很好。
- The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。
- The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
- Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。
- Belgium replied that she had always been faithful to her international obligations. 比利时政府答复说,比利时一贯忠实履行其国际义务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- It would never do to neglect official obligations. 玩忽职守是绝对不行的。 来自《简明英汉词典》