There was massive debate on Instinct Magazine’s social media last week after an opinion article I wrote about Glenn Close (The Wife) losing to Olivia Colman (The Favourite) for Best Actress at The Oscars went live.
I stand by what I said: Glenn should’ve won, and Olivia and her extra fabric should’ve stayed seated. Millions of people were left confused, regardless, as they thought the now seven-time Oscar nominee was going to win given how she was the overall favorite up until then.
Famed journalist Michael Musto provided some insight as to why Glenn lost to Olivia in an article he did for NewNowNext on Monday, March 5. And Lady Gaga, another nominee for Best Actress (A Star is Born), could be to blame for all of this.
He spoke to an Oscar voter who had this to say about the ordeal:
“Everyone is gobsmacked, but I guess a perfect storm can create the unexpected. I sooo voted for Glenn, as did everyone else I know. Our reasoning is that it was like the elections. One of the other actresses pulled enough of the votes away from Glenn to make her drop just below Olivia. My guess is it was Lady Gaga. In the elections, it was Bernie Sanders—and when he didn’t make the cut, his votes didn’t go to Hillary (Clinton), it seemed to have split between her and (Donald) Trump, giving him the edge. Or it was Russian hacking—and I haven’t ruled that out with Olivia either.
Another argument was that some voters felt like The Wife wasn’t that great of a film overall while The Favourite was much more intriguing.
Glenn is far from being the Susan Lucci of the Oscars though with her seven losses. Diane Warren, who has written legendary songs like “Because You Loved Me” and “How Do I Live,” just lost her 10th Oscar for Best Original Song (“I’ll Fight” from RBG). Gaga won that instead for “Shallow”. Amy Adams is right behind Glenn, as she lost her 6th for Vice (Regina King won for If Beale Street Could Talk).
There could be hope at the end of this acting rainbow for Glenn, however, as she’ll be playing Norma Desmond in the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical Sunset Boulevard. This role earned the 71-year-old her third overall Tony win back in 1995. Here’s hoping she can repeat that on Oscar night sometime in the future.