This year marked the 25th anniversary of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award ceremony, and it was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
Close bested fellow lead actress nominees Lady Gaga (A Star is Born), Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).
“We can’t keep meeting like this,” she told Gary Oldman jokingly, as he presented her with the SAG trophy.
In her acceptance speech, Close expressed how proud she is to be in this union. “I am so proud to receive this award from my fellow actors,” she said. “I salute you with this,” she added.
She noted that one of the most powerful things we have as human beings include “two eyes looking into two eyes.” “Film is the only art form that allows us the close-up,” she said, prior to adding that it “substitutes for real-life two eyes looking into two eyes.”
Close continued, “That would give us empathy and understanding.” She went on to thank the crew in Sweden, as well as her director Björn Runge, Jane Anderson for the screenplay, author Meg Wolitzer (for her “beautiful novel”) and basically everybody who worked on The Wife. Finally, she thanked her screen partner, Jonathan Pryce. “You can’t have a wife, without a husband. He was a magnificent collaborator,” she said. “Thank you so much for honoring me with this. I honor you. I am so proud to be a part of you.”
This marks Close’s second career SAG win. In 2005, she won the award for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries” for The Lion in Winter.
Earlier this month, as Digital Journal reported, Close won the Golden Globe award for “Best Actress in a Drama” for The Wife.
Read More: Digital Journal reviewed The Wife.
