Glenn Close Struggled To Portray A ‘White Woman’ Who Lived Her Life In The Black Community

Glenn Close admitted that she faced a challenging role in The Deliverance, where she portrayed a ‘white woman’ immersed in the black community. Initially feeling clueless about this complex character, Close dedicated herself to understanding and embodying the role authentically. 

Her deep dive into the character’s background and motivations ultimately allowed her to deliver a compelling performance on screen.

“Never to repeat myself” 

Glenn Close said “If I have any rule that I’ve tried to hold myself to, never to repeat myself” she continued “Just for my own sake, I think I’d get bored.”

Director Lee Daniels approached Close with his horror drama, The Deliverance, co-written by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum, she had no clue on how to play it.

She explained “Alberta is a white woman who has lived her life in the Black community and she’s only dated Black men, a woman who has been abused and I think she has become an abuser. She has found God in a very real way, and she’s hoping that her daughter will be able to clean up as well.”

Andra Day stars as Ebony in The Deliverance, a film that follows her family’s financial struggles, a social worker ready to call Child Protective Services, and a demon who possesses the children. The film also stars Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton, and Anthony B. Jenkins.

As an ailing cancer patient, Alberta wears a variety of flamboyant wigs to chemotherapy treatments, where she flirts with nurses.

Close said  “When [Daniels] told me that there are white women like this in every Black community, I was intrigued and I wanted to do her justice. And so the journey began.”

She also added that Daniels told her “every Black person knows a white woman like this, but not every white person knows a white woman like this!”

“She’s so legendary and she’s been doing this to the highest level for such a long time”

Andra Day praised Close, she said  “The way she embodied this character and the way — watching her, she’s so legendary and she’s been doing this to the highest level for such a long time.”

Day stated that the costars developed a deeper kinship, able to handle intense scenes of anger and pain, but also possessing the love needed for the scenes.

Close added “There’s this huge tension between mother-daughter in this film, which basically is based on their ultimate love for each other. But life has been hard for them, Parents will always make mistakes in raising their children, and it’s just a question of how bad the mistakes are. And they can see that and they can be sorry for it and ask for forgiveness, but it’s really the burden of forgiveness is on the child.”

In theaters now and available on Netflix as of August 30 is The Deliverance.

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