10 Questions for Glenn Close

By Kate Stinchfield

Why do you make such a great villain? Brendan Ponton, COLUMBIA, MD.

[Laughs.] I don't know if I can answer that question. I am totally not like the characters that people perceive as villains. I think of them as just really complex, interesting characters--except for Cruella (101 Dalmatians), who was simply the devil.

How is your experience on the stage different from your movie sets? Scott Kagan, LAS VEGAS

I love the chemistry that can be created onstage between the actors and the audience. It's molecular even, the energies that can go back and forth. I started in theater, and when I first went into movies, I felt that my energy was going to blow out the camera.

Some consider Fatal Attraction to have feminist overtones. Do you think it's a political film? Nicholas Wallerstein SPEARFISH, S.D.

I think Fatal Attraction had a tremendous effect on this country when it came out. I think people brought political baggage to the film. I was astonished that so many feminists didn't like Alex Forrest because they thought it was a terrible portrayal of a single working woman. You can't play somebody that represents all single women. But she has become, I think, a symbol of women fighting back.

What made you decide to move to prime-time TV? Matt McAfee, NEW YORK CITY

I tend to get bored now waiting around on a film set. We're shooting [Damages] in high definition, which means that each take is 50 minutes long. It's uninterrupted acting, so you can get into a great rhythm.

As an actress who is no longer in her 20s or 30s, are you frustrated with the roles you are offered in Hollywood? Jeffrey James, SHERWOOD, ARK.

I can't complain. I think older women are very hard to write for. I really do, I mean culturally speaking. At a certain age you're supposed to be in the back room, rocking the grandchildren.

What do you do to look so young? Heidi Schoeltzke WIESBADEN, GERMANY

[Laughs.] I think a lot of it is genetic, but I always was kind of a jock. I went on my first triathlon in May, and my goal was just to finish, so my time was horrible. But at least I got over the finish line.

What are your passions outside of acting? Carrie Schwartz, SAN DIEGO

I love nature. I love animals. I would be very happy in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I'm on the board of the Wildlife Conservation Society, so that's one of my passions. I've never gotten up on a soapbox about it, but I'm pretty passionately against the stupidity of war. I just don't understand it. I'll leave it at that.

Have you ever considered leaving acting? Rosita Shtifter, NEWTON, MASS.

No. When I met my husband [David Shaw], that was the first time I was considering major compromise and not always letting work come first. But I never considered leaving.

As the mother of a college-age girl, how do you balance family and career? Raj C. Sinha, PRINCETON, N.J.

I'm always aware of how much I will be separated from my daughter [Annie, 19]. It's a little easier now that she's gone to college. I have been a single parent since she was 2, so we're joined at the hip. Then it's just finding time where you can be together, which at her age is not always her idea of a great time. [Laughs.] That's O.K.

Is it irritating that you're often mistaken for Meryl Streep? John Jasper Cortes, BANGKOK

It would be very irritating if it never happened to her, if people never thought that she was me. But she told me a story of going into this baby store in Los Angeles when she was pregnant with her last child. They gave her all this stuff at a huge discount, and at the end, they whispered, "We loved you in Fatal Attraction."

Listen to Glenn Close on the 10 Questions podcast. For more from Close read the extra questions. Find more interviews at time.com/10questions.

TIME's interview with the film and television actress continues on Time.com. Read these extra questions with Glenn Close.

You've played so many parts, from the Vice President of the United States to the crazy Cruella De Vil. What's been your favorite role, and what's been your most challenging? --Chelsea Olson, SEATTLE That's a very hard question. It's like if I had more than one child, having to choose what child I liked, because each of them represent so much to me. For overall experience, I loved making Dangerous Liaisons. It was such a brilliant script and I love working with Stephen Frears. Big Chill -- only the second movie I did -- was a great experience, with another wonderful director Larry Kasdan and a great cast. Challenges I think would have to be Fatal Attraction because it was a very physical demanding part, and Reversal of Fortune where I played Sunny von Bulow. She was a tragic figure and understandably -- but unfortunate for me -- no friend of hers wanted to talk to me about what she was like. I think that in some ways, even though we had a very brilliant script, I felt like I was working a bit in a vacuum. I might have had different nuances if I had known more about her.

Is there any part that you have not done yet that you would like to play? What would it be? --David Jingst, ST. CHARLES, ILL. I have played Norma Desmond on stage in Sunset Boulevard, the musical, and I would love to play her on film.

If you could go back in time and visit your 20-year-old self, what advice would you give her? --Victoria Fernandez, TORONTO Be aware of your inner voice and follow it, even though most of the time it will tell you the most uncomfortable path to choose.

Do you find that Dalmatians are still scared of you? --Rachel Hamilton, PARIS, ILL. [Laughs] I've seen a lot of Dalmatians in Central Park and they're always so beautiful -- and they're not scared of me. They might be scared of me if I was in full drag as Cruella. It was kind of a strange phenomenon, whenever I'd get in my full drag, no animal wanted to be around me.