Telluride 2011: Glenn Close on Life, Work, and the Prospect of Oscar Recognition for 'Albert Nobbs' (Audio Interview)

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Earlier today, I had the opportunity to spend about 20 minutes with the actress Glenn Close, who is here at the Telluride Film Festival in conjunction with Rodrigo Garcia's period piece drama Albert Nobbs, a film that she co-wrote, co-produced, and stars in, and that had its world premiere here last night. It was the first interview that Close has done on behalf the film since its big premiere, which should offer the 64-year-old -- who, back in the 1980s, scored five Oscar nods within just seven years, a feat matched among women by only Bette Davis, Greer Garson, and Meryl Streep -- her best shot in years to finally bring home that elusive statuette.

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Over the course of our time together, we discussed a wide variety of subjects: how she got her start in acting; what she believes was her "big break"; what stands out most in her memory about several of her great roles of yore -- The World According to Garp (1982), The Big Chill (1983), The Natural (1984), Fatal Attraction (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Reversal of Fortune (1990), and 101 Dalmatians (1996); her foray, over the past decade, into TV work -- first The Shield (2005), now Damages (2007-); and her plans for the future (she says she's "pretty ready to move on" from Damages when her contract expires after next season).

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Most of our discussion, of course, centered around Albert Nobbs: the memorable way in which she first encountered the source material 29 years ago; what about it appealed to her enough to pursue a cinematic adaptation of it ever since; how she manipulated her voice, posture (she says Charlie Chaplin was a key model), and face (she switched from downcast to wide-eyed mid-film) to the extent that she could pass as a man; and much more.

And, lastly, I asked her about the awards season itself: how she feels about the lifetime achievement award with which she will be honored at the San Sebastian Film Festival in a few weeks, and what another Oscar nomination would mean to her (23 years after her last one), particularly if it resulted in a win ("It would be amazing... it really would be incredibly gratifying... I mean, if it happens, and if I'm sitting in that audience, it's gonna be, just...").

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