Q&A Glenn Close

Actress Glenn Close joins the cast of the cable TV show The Shield on March 15.

Why are you doing TV? Well, I’ve done TV my whole career. I’m amazed that it’s caused so much comment. I hope other people from the movie world will do the same thing. I think there’s some spectacular writing going on in television. I’m having a ball.

Did you watch The Shield before signing on? No! No, I was in for a rude and shocking awakening. They came east, made this terrific pitch and brought me DVDs of all the seasons since the pilot. So I thought, well, why not?

No ego clashes on the set? There’s no sitting around. There’s no time for someone to be flinging around their ego. They wouldn’t last very long. But it’s incredibly creative. Michael Chiklis and I were saying the other day that we feel like Ferraris in a garage. When the job starts, you just wonder how many gears they’ll ask of you. We [actors] only have the process, and if that’s not full of creative and challenging stuff, you may as well be doing something else.

Let’s talk about Fatal Attraction. Do you still get recognized as Alex Forrest? Yeah, oh yeah, it happens all the time. Men will say, “You scared the s___ out of me.” It probably affected my social life. Yeah, it would take a very brave and self-assured man. I think that character has become somewhat of an icon.

So much so that she was No. 7 on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 film villains. Who’s the first one?

Hannibal Lecter. Oh, of course. Am I the first woman?

Nope, that was the Wicked Witch of the West. Oh, right.

But Alex Forrest beat out the girl from The Exorcist and the Jaws shark. Oh, my. That’s funny.