#oh wait one other thing. theyre all transgender to me. this is optional to the idea but also no it isnt

[harvestmoth]

something that wont make any sense to literally anyone other than me. ignore my horrid revelations

[dateamonster]

continued

power heist

if headmistress bloodgood doesnt show up in 15 minutes we all get to go home

the yuri potential of "your mom had beef with my mom and you have beef with me but we can break the cycle and then maybe make out silly style while were at it". tbqh.

HAHA BALD HEATH MOMENT

deuces sisters 👀❓are we gonna get a viperine i wonder? i know in g1 shes his cousin but like. perhaps.

i... would not object to a g3 draculaura/claude redux

toraleis mom is next level crazy like i rly thought she was just gonna be the mean high expectations neglectful mom archetype to toraleis meangirl with a troubled background but she is straight up manipulating this CHILD for no reason

clawdeen being the only one willing to trust toralei 🥺 all her friends ready to back her up 🥺 the shovel talk is gonna be unreal

this cthulu lookin waiter rules btw love the squiddy eyes

the fact that their teacher is right over at the next table and not even looking up

i love the gang heisting together thats soo fun

OK BUT as much as its framed as a funny gag toralei knowing her mom would burn the diary because she has a history of burning things to express anger feels like a cfs worthy red flag catarina if i see you its ON SIGHT

i like how lagoona was the only one who essentially didnt do shit on this heist lol she is just hanging out and looking cute

speaking of lagoona tbh it would be kinda nice if this ep was like the first step to her and toralei repairing their friendship. like obvi toralei has a lot of growing and apologizing to do first but idk id like to see it.

and i do appreciate draculaura making it very clear that while this was a step, shes not entirely ready to forgive toralei. shes entitled to that. good on u girl.

finnegans parents on a date <3

i do not want to think abt the implications of a monster declaration of independence.

let her steal!!!!!!

monster midterms

two two-parters back to back is crazy i just wanna say

draculaura is such a goodie goodie im starting to understand why toralei had beef. the rare intersection of goth-prep.

we love you the midterm fairyyy

HABBEY CRUMBS YUMYUMYUMYUM ILL TAKE IT

oo the twins are here yayy!! and theyre hip to toradeen i see. very nice.

MOUSCEDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"skunkratese is my goverment name" hell yea the next generation of transgender furries abt to go wild over this one

oh AND hes emo thank god honestly

in LOVE with this griffon (?) woman!! once again, really great body diversity in the side characters. would looove to see that translate to some of the mains pleeease

i rly enjoy it when there are hints to specific monster schools outside of monster high that cater to one kind of monster. i couldnt quite makeout what the twins were saying but it sounded like "meowton academy"? i remember in g1 there was some stuff abt dracula wanting to send draculaura to a vampire specific academy iirc. i like details like that because like for one thing i like knowing there are other academic options in the monster world besides this one school, plus it sorta established monster high as a place thats notable for its inclusion of multiple different species learning together under one roof which feels in line with like the core messaging of the series and would both make sense for why young monsters might want to go there over other schools, as well as for why older monsters more set in their ways might be antsy about sending their kids there if they hadnt graduated from there themselves.

dracula bat looks dumb as hell lmao

ALLY DADULA TIME HELL YEA

"I AM LITERALLY A LITERARY CLASSIC"

classic skull-mouth cave booby trap moments rip romulus 😔

mouscedes my beloved my beloved my belov- WAIT THE HUMANATI???? PLEASE BE REAL ACTUALLY I WANT A WHOLE SEASON DEDICATED TO THAT

obsessed with mouscedes being like ohhh im just a widdle mousey umm cheesed to meet u too girl <3333

toradeen truthers stay winninggggg

omg mr clopman.. a golem character at monster high aaaaaa <3333

dot! dot! dot!

catching up on monster high notes!

spell the beans

looooove clawdeens dad joining the parents association he is involved in his childrens education :3 he is making cookies and making friends :3

momdusa is so milfy i could die the gays stay winning once again

dracula is soooo silly hes winning me over i fear

!! momdusa never moved on from high school and falls over so much and loves her wife wow she is the perfect woman actually

its not my dream dad its YOURS

obsessed w everyone wanting to eat clawdeens dad

THANK YOU for explaining the camera/mirror thing with vampires i was wondering abt that

mr wolf and dracula friendship moment 🥺

EXPELBEAST!! i love when they do something fun and goofy with the mh lore

idk if those were lagoonas parents in the mpa but i wish we got more of them there looked so cute

growing up ghoulia

mothman!!!!!!!!!!!

some of these side characters have such interesting designs the purple dragon girl sitting in front of ghoulia was soo cute

MONSTER GSA LETS GOOO

i loove when mh does some classic monster movie stuff. ghoulia clone zombie attack rules.

not to be a broken record but i feel like ghoulias ep here would be more meaningful if she was still more noticeably zombie-like. like she says she moves slower than other monsters but i dont like. see that. let her lurch!

casketball jinx

im so happy to see howleen!!

kaiju girlie is such a queen we love to see it

tbqh i think howleen was right for this one

clawdeen both being on the team and being a cheerleader seems like soo much take a rest bestie 😭

do u think clawdeen had a wolf fursona before she found out she was a werewolf? i think so.

[wooorm]

tell us abt the benzen :)c go wild go crazy

Ah, 

well it all started when one day, when Benry was a wittle baby child (age 16) walking home and he spots some cute boy about his age, beyblade in hand and lighter in the other. With Benry watching in amazement as the young arsonist lights that bitch on fire and launches that bitch into a trash can lid. truly a sight to behold, and in that moment benry knew he had to meet this guy, like seriously dudes chaotic energy? off the fucking charts,,  so they get to talking and eventually become best friends :) 

They do normal friend stuff, hanging out, doing dumb shit, holding hands and smooching.. oh.. And they hang out alot, like alot theyre inseparable. Mostly bc Forzen’s home life is absolute dog shit but he has benny to help him through all that,,  all while Benry is indirectly helping Forzen figure himself out- he soon figures out why he feels the discomfort he feels about himself and then it hits forzen- hes transgender (he already figured he was bisexual at this point) Benry even offers to cut Forzen’s hair in a way that he sees fit, and then its a double combo for forzen as he figures out that he most definitely has feelings for his very best friend- 

Now, forzen fucking around and finding out he trans? good- bad part about that is Forzen’s fam isnt really into the trans idea,, so Forzen starts to hang around benry’s house even more than usual even tho benry’s house is p cramp with family-- 

pretty soon, the boy’s are 18 and forzen’s dysphoria only grows and his home life gets worse, and the pressure is on- he doesnt have any good career skills that could make a liveable wage (i mean he did barely pass highschool) and the only viable option he thinks he could make it on is going into the military, ofc benry opposes this... alot,, to where they argue about it furiously,, eventually causing a falling out with the two, to where they dont speak to each for a day. This kills the both of them inside but they both have different ways of dealing with the situation,,

  benry musters up the courage to actually talk to forzen and work things out before forzen heads off, he quickly makes a break for it to forzens house. knocking on the door only to be greeted by one of forzen’s siblings. Benrys heart drops as the words escape that relatives lips, “he already left bud- sorry” benry can hardly hold back the tears as he leaves his former friends house, sweet voice escaping his mouth. Yellow to black. 

Benry never really was the same after that, he seemed less enthusiastic about things he previously enjoyed, even taking that stupid security guard job at that dollar store area 51 knock off,,, 

cut to the res cas

Forzen is assigned to go to black mesa,, realizing that this is the same facillity that his old friend had mentioned before from overhearing his fellow comrades. As soon as he can he guns into black mesa with only one thing on the brain- 

switching over to benry,, the little snoop, no clipping through walls, joining and leaving the science team ever now and again. He eventually finds out that the military is here and what if ya know? what if his friend from the past is here? So he makes it his own personal mission to find Forzen. Just so scared of every dead bootboy body, not knowing if its the one hes looking for.. sometimes mistakenly sweet voicing bodies that very much could be Forzen. With both looking for each other the search is on... 

and then, like a spot light on either one of them they find what theyre looking for, across one of the many sprawling rooms in back mesa of all places, theyre eyes meet-  in an instant their body’s cling to one another as if neither one had felt touch before. There’s only a few ‘i missed you’s before theyre kissing. Forzen holding up benry in his arms tightly, not wanting to let go... After that theyre practically inseparable again, walking around black mesa as if nothings goinging on, catching up and talking. They agree to meet up again later,, but forzen’s got other plans to make that happen sooner,,, he’s even got the plan and dog to do do so-- 

// so i basically hc that forzen only held sunkist hostage so he could trade her for benry and he could look like a hero and possibly start to make up for leaving like he did, but all that is foiled when everyone but benry shows up, and now he has to improvise, thus the “dispel the rumor” bullshit--

after the res cas, benry and forzen make their mutual loving official and move in together like they always wanted to do,, and everything great! 

... 

...

“wait a minute- no you hurt me-” 

and a big argument starts and its bad. Benry is a crying, sweet voicing mess and forzen just wants to run away again. Both gordon and tommy have to intervene and talk both of them down from ‘this isnt going to work out’ 

ofc forzen feels bad for leaving the way he did, at the time it seemed like the best way to leave so he wouldnt feel bad about leaving benry and hoping benry wouldnt be hurt as bad in the long run. Forzen was trapped and needed an escape. He does realize that things could have been handled better and he often beats himself up for hurting benry the way he did and he would do anything for benry to make it up to him. After forzen apologized n shit benry doesnt even think much of it now, hes just glad hes finally with the one he loved all those years ago, and they can actually stay together this time <3

thank you for sitting here and listening to me ramble insanely about to funny men from halflife parody :0)

[virgiltheanxious]

It’s Not Your Fault, Don’t Take Blame (Chapter Five)

Title:  It’s Not Your Fault, Don’t Take Blame (Chapter Five)

Masterlist

Previous | Next

Pairing: Eventual Analogical

Warnings: None, I believe.

Word Count: 1,299

Summary:  Virgil is a single father. Not only that, but he is a transgender single father. After leaving his parents and not looking back, he is left to raise his child with only help from his High School friend Patton.

As he plans a small birthday party for his son, Aeneas, he meets Roman and Logan. He never had any friends outside of Patton before but now it seems he not only has two new ones but a love interest as well.

Now, the only question is what will he do when someone calls child protective services on him?

Tags: Ask if you want to be tagged! General:  @my-happy-little-bean@nightmarejasmine

Virgil Sanders created a chat with Logan Santiago, Patton Alexander and Roman Sanford-Gomez

Virgil: Hello! So for Aeneas’s party I was thinking Sunday the 26th and you could show up at noon. Patton will be taking Aeneas out for a while before so he wont be there until we are ready. There is no specific end time, but you can leave whenever if the time is not ideal

Roman: Awesome! Any gift ideas?

Logan: I had the same question, actually.

Virgil: well i mean i know hell be happy with absolutely anything but he seems to really be into coloring right now. like on a whole other level

Patton: Virgil no!!! Im getting him new coloring stuff!

Virgil: Oh uhhh i mean another option is building toys, they all seem to like that stuff. You could also ask eddy or Evelyn if they have ideas because theyre always playing together so they might have some already

Virgil: i know aeneas is my son but im still the absolute worst at gifts.

Logan: Don’t fret, I feel the same way a lot of the time.

Roman: I mean, he is a kid he really isnt thaattt hard to shop for

Virgil: He really isnt picky about like… anything at all

Virgil: hes a really easy going kid

Logan: Excellent. I will check in so no one gets him the same gift.

Virgil: oh yeah, by the way there will be lunch and cake

-----

Tapping his finger on the back of his phone anxiously, Virgil waited for a manager to pick up. He needed to make sure he could get this Sunday (Tomorrow) off. He made a plan to just say that Aeneas was sick with the flu and he wouldn’t be able to make it in tomorrow because he had to take care of him.

As soon as the phone stopped ringing and someone picked up he took the phone away from his face and took a deep breath.

“Uh, yes, hello. I need to take Sunday off. My son is sick with the flu and I’ll need to take care of him,” Virgil said.

He went through the process one other time before he was done and could relax. Softly, he fell backwards on his bed and sighed. He hated calling in to take off work but he would do almost anything for Aeneas. His anxiety always seemed to hold him back to a point until it came to his son.

Virgil got up, realizing he still needed to buy decorations for Aeneas’s party. He didn’t have any shifts today, his only problem would be Aeneas himself. He couldn’t get them with Aeneas there because the entire plan would be spoiled. So, he decided that he would need to drop Aeneas off at daycare and decide everything then.

Aeneas seemed okay to the idea of going to daycare but Virgil felt bad regardless. He assumed that his usual friends weren’t there on Saturdays, which would suck. But it was only for a couple hours so he hoped Aeneas would be fine.

The first stop was the Dollar Tree because he just wanted cheap plates and a gift bag for what he got Aeneas. He did just that, ending up with a blue checkered tablecloth, paper plates, disposable cups, a package of balloons as well as a couple balloons that were already blown up. He wasn’t entirely sure how he was gonna hide the balloons- maybe in a closet or something. His next stop was Walmart to get a specialized cake. It was extra money but definitely would be worth it. He just asked that they write “Happy Birthday Aeneas!” on it, making sure to spell out his son’s name and everything. He then pushed his cart around to do a bit of grocery shopping, also throwing in streamers and confetti. Virgil thought that maybe the kids would have a good time throwing confetti at Aeneas when he walked in. There was no doubt in his mind that he would definitely be joining in on it as well.

Excitedly, he drove back to his apartment to drop off everything. He hid the things he could in his dresser (underneath his clothes just in case) and what he couldn’t fit in there, he put as out of sight as possible in his closet. The risk of Aeneas finding something was still large, but he could only hope that nothing would happen in the week leading up to Aeneas’s birthday.

After everything was hidden as well as possible, he got back in his car to make his way to pick Aeneas up again.

-----

As soon as he walked into the daycare, Aeneas was walking towards him. Virgil chuckled, walking directly towards his son and giving him a big hug.

“Must have been a boring couple of hours if you were already looking for me,” he joked, putting Aeneas on his hip.

“Yeah,” Aeneas said, “I didn’t have any friends to talk to. Sometimes Ev is here but she wasn’t today.”

“Aw, I’m sorry buddy. How about we go and get some ice cream now? That sound good with you?” Virgil asked, smiling and walking towards Patton.

“Yeah!” Aeneas responded, excitement dripping from his voice.

“Hey, Pat,” Virgil said, tapping Patton on the shoulder. He gestured with his head to the door. “I’m gonna take Aeneas now.”

“Okay. Have a nice day Virge!” Patton said.

“You too Patton,” Virgil replied.

Driving in the car, Virgil decided to go to an old ice cream shack that Patton and he had gone to as kids. He didn’t go often because of his fear of seeing someone he used to know but it was still his favorite ice cream place so he decided to give it a visit. When they got in the line and Virgil asked Aeneas if he wanted one of the rainbow swirl cones that were advertised. Aeneas had given him an excited ‘yes!’ so Virgil ordered it for him. Virgil himself decided on getting a chocolate swirl cone and brought Aeneas to the seating area.

“So Aeneas, why don’t you tell me about your friends?” Virgil asked, licking his ice cream.

“Oh! Evelyn is really nice and super duper smart. She said it’s only because her dad spent lots of time with her teaching her stuff, though. She helps Eddy and I build towers better ‘cause she knows how to build them so they aren’t wobbly more than Eddy and I,” Aeneas explained, pausing every now and again to lick his ice cream.

“Aw, that’s really nice of her. What about Eddy? What’s he like?”

Aeneas brightened up. “Oh! Oh! He’s super nice too! He’s really good at drawing and sometimes he wears really cool shirts to daycare!” Aeneas said.

Virgil smiled as his child continued to talk about the things Evelyn, Eddy, and him do at school. As he big down on his cone, he looked away from Aeneas to look for a trashcan. When he looked around, his eyes came across a man that was giving him a death glare. He tensed up and looked back down at Aeneas, who wasn’t quite done with his ice cream yet.

“Uh, hey Aeneas- Sorry for cutting you off- but how about we head home. You can finish your ice cream in the car.” Virgil stated, glancing back at the man who was glaring.

“Okay!” Aeneas said, already standing up.

Virgil took Aeneas’s hand, guiding him to the car an throwing his napkin away along the way. He hurriedly buckled Aeneas up and drove away, Not wanting to be in that town for any longer. As soon as he was safely home and in his living room, he texted Patton.

Virgil: Patton i saw him at that old ice cream place we used to go to

Virgil: im scared

[trendingnewsb]

Glenn Close: You lose power if you get angry

From vengeful mistress to Agatha Christie matriarch: the actor talks about Harvey Weinstein, mental illness and growing up in a cult

Glenn Close and I sit at the corner of a large boardroom table in an intimidatingly minimalist office on the 14th floor of a Los Angeles talent agency. Its the kind of environment in which Patty Hewes, the ruthless lawyer Close played in Damages for five seasons, would feel at home and Im almost waiting for her to stand up, slam both hands on the table and shout, Ill rip your face off or any of the other terrifying put-downs that defined her double Emmy award-winning performance.

But Close is in high spirits and radiates such warmth I barely notice the chill from the tower blocks air-con. After we fiddle with the settings on our swivel chairs, which are so high they make anyone under six foot kick their legs like a child on a swing, the 70-year-old, six-time Oscar nominee and star of stage, television and film starts telling me about her dreams. I have had a lot recently, full of this wonderful love for a younger man. The dreams just keep coming and I wake up thinking, that was wonderful! It wasnt necessarily us doing the sexual act, just the feeling of love.

With her white hair cut to a sharp crop, and wearing a relaxed navy blazer, chinos and black scarf on account of the arctic corporate temperature, she looks stylish and fit. I have never felt better in my life, and I am, like, 70, she says. Im really a late bloomer.

She says she feels a disconnect between how she sees herself and how people may view me when I walk down the street, like: Theres an old lady. You know, there is now this cult of the model. Everyone on the red carpet is made into a model. That is very hard to not play into I have a bit of podge I am trying to get rid of, but its hard. I just think, Oh fuck, Ive been doing this my whole life! But the irony is, you just get better and better with age. You dont feel less alive or less sexy.

In Agatha Christies Crooked House. Photograph: Nick Wall

We are here to talk about Crooked House, the Agatha Christie adaptation debuting on Channel 5, before its theatrical release, in which Close plays Lady Edith, a matriarch of a very dysfunctional family. Close says, Christies grandson came to the set and he validated the fact that it was her favourite book, and the one that had never been adapted. He said when she handed it to the publisher, she was told she had to change the ending, because it was too upsetting and controversial. She refused. Its still pretty controversial.

This production, co-written by Julian Fellowes, might not be as spendy as Kenneth Branaghs $55m Murder On The Orient Express, but the ensemble cast is equally starry: joining Close are Gillian Anderson, Max Irons, Terence Stamp and Christina Hendricks. Close presides over her co-stars with gravitas and grace, in an understated performance that finds the humour in an otherwise bleak setup. But youd expect nothing less from the actor whose 40 years in the business started with star turns in Broadway productions (she won a Best Actress Tony in 1983 for Tom Stoppards The Real Thing). Her first film role, at the age of 35, was with Robin Williams in The World According To Garp, for which she received an Oscar nomination as she did for her supporting roles in The Big Chill and The Natural. Her performances in Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons and Albert Nobbs, about the life of a transgender butler in late 19th century Ireland, which she also co-wrote, racked up further Oscar nominations but still no win. This is seen by many as a travesty: Close brings a precision to her film work, honed through her years on stage. She has that rare taut quality Jack Nicholson also has it where you believe that beneath the steely control she is capable of snapping at any moment.

It was this that led Andrew Lloyd Webber to cast her in 1993 as the tragic silent movie star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Close reprised the role 23 years later, getting her old costumes out of storage (she has kept all her costumes and recently donated the collection to a university in Indiana) for its revival in Londons West End.

As Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction: Clearly she had mental health issues. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

But it was her Oscar-nominated turn as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction in 1987 that proved career-defining. Thirty years on, Close still counts Forrest as the character of whom she feels most fond; she has admitted to fighting tooth and nail against the films eventual denouement, which turned the character into a bunny-boiling psychopath and Close into the casting directors go-to woman on the verge for years afterwards. Now we have the vocabulary to talk about these things, clearly she had mental health issues, she says.

Close sits regally still as she speaks, emphasising her points by leaning forward and locking eyes. Shes comfortable with silences and often takes a theatrical beat or two before answering questions. Shes all poise and control, but does she ever lose her temper?

I express my feelings quietly. I am not afraid of confrontation, but I am not particularly good at it. If I get attacked, I am not good at attacking back. There is fight, flight and freeze and I tend to freeze. That is not a strength of mine. I love the fact that my daughter Annie [Starke, an actor] is more of a fighter than I am. She doesnt let people get away with shit. While she agrees that women have a harder time being angry, publicly, than men, she says, I have played a lot of characters, and actually anger makes you lose power. Patty Hewes [in Damages] she hardly ever lost her temper, but when she did, it was very specific. I have always felt you lose power if you get that angry.

The collective outpouring of anger among women in Hollywood right now is something of which Close is acutely aware. She says that sexism in the industry has shifted more slowly than it should have done throughout her career: It took Harvey Weinstein and someone calling him out [for real change to happen]. I know Harvey, and he has never done that to me, but people would say he was a pig. I never knew that it was that bad and I dont personally know anybody who has endured that. I would like to think that I would have done something about it.

We discuss whether its possible to separate the work from the personalities involved in it. News has just broken that House Of Cards will be back for another series without Kevin Spacey, after it was originally canned because of harassment claims brought against its leading man. Close wraps her scarf around her chest and fixes me with her electric eyes. Artists, to make a huge generality, walk on a very thin line. Sometimes, like my beloved friend Robin Williams, who was one step away from madness, whatever makes them a great artist also makes them very complicated human beings. Again, that doesnt mean they can prey on and abuse people.

With Harvey Weinstein in 2013. Photograph: Mike Coppola/Getty Images

At the root of the problem of sexism in Hollywood right now is, Close says, biology. I think the way men have treated women, from the beginning of time, is because they have different brains to women. So I am not surprised by it at all. I say to a guy, Tell me the truth, if you see a woman walk into a room, what is the first thought that goes through your head? His answer, always, is, Would I fuck her? It doesnt mean they act on it. If you can evolve into a society where men know that they should not always act on it then there has been a positive revolution. But you cant just say that theyre not going to have the thought that is ridiculous. It also has to be the women, who are not powerful, to be OK to say no and leave the room. I think its unrealistic to say were going to change but we have to evolve.

I ask Close who she thinks is a great man today. She is silent, thinking, for what feels like a full 60 seconds in which I am so tempted to throw out some options: Barack Obama, the Pope, the friendly security guard on reception who let us in

Nelson Mandela, is her final answer, but Im not sure shes convinced. I guess for me, she says, greatness is taking your humanity and still doing the good thing. Its sad to say that there are very few men, who are leaders, who have some sort of moral code that they dont deviate from because of popular opinion.

She thinks we are undergoing a crisis of masculinity: In the public mind, yes. I was outraged when I heard that there was a war against men I was like, are you joking? What do you think has been happening against women for centuries?

Close knows all too well about the misuse of power, because her own upbringing was, as she puts it, complicated. When she was seven, her parents joined a cult. Moral Re-Armament or MRA was a modern, nondenominational movement founded by an American evangelical fundamentalist which extolled the four absolutes: honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Her father, a physician working in the Congo, sent Close with her brother and two sisters from the family home in Greenwich, Connecticut, to live at the MRA HQ in Caux, Switzerland (Closes mother, Bettine, was a socialite).

She is vague on the details but clear on the impact this experience had on her as a teenager: I was repressed, clueless and guilt-ridden. The timeline is patchy, but Close travelled with MRA in the 60s as a member of their musical groups, and spent time back in Connecticut at an elite boarding school. I had a wonderful time at Rosemary Hall, a girls school, she says. I was in a renegade singing group called the Fingernails: A Group With Polish. But she remained, as she calls it clueless. A lot of my friends knew boys youd have these horrendous dances with boys schools and they would get the guys they wanted and I would just stay with the person I was with.

As Patty Hewes in Damages. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

She was briefly married before going to university. It is a complicated story for me. I was married before college, and kind of in an arranged marriage when you look back on it, and my marriage broke up when I went to college, as it should have. I was 22. But my liberal arts school had a wonderful theatre that was my training, my acting school.

Was that where she finally learned about sex, popular culture, the ways of the world? Not really, she says. I still am learning.

Close has two sisters, Tina the eldest, and Jessie her younger sister; and two brothers, Alexander, and Tambu Misoki, who was adopted by Closes parents while living in Africa. At the age of 50, Jessie spent time in a psychiatric hospital and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a weight that had been hanging over the family, undiscussed, for years. Talking about mental illness just wasnt done, Close says. You dont have a vocabulary for it and youre also very aware of appearances. You dont want to appear a crazy family.

In 2010 Close founded Bring Change to Mind, a charity that aims to end the stigma around mental illness by talking openly about it and its effect on families. It was my nephew who was first diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. This is basically schizophrenia with an ingredient of bipolar. And when that happened, it was like, What? My sister Jessie, his mother, didnt know what was wrong. He went to the hospital for two years and that saved his life. Then Jessie was, finally, correctly diagnosed herself.

With sister Jessie in 2009. Photograph: Getty Images

Close felt a duty to her family to give them a high-profile person who is not afraid to talk about it publicly. It affects the whole family. We always knew my grandmother and mother had depression my sister does, I do to a certain extent. But I didnt know my great-uncle had schizophrenia. I knew my half-uncle died by suicide. There was a lot of alcoholism addiction, self-medication. Nobody ever talked about it. I knew my grandmother was depressed, but at first I thought she lived in a hotel, not a hospital, because she always said how good the food was.

Close says she and her siblings are of one mind politically, but admits she does have members of her family who voted for Trump. I tried to understand that. Theyre not crazy people who have been brainwashed by Fox News, but I try to understand the anger, because I think that has been building up ever since Watergate. It was watching that scandal unfold that made her realise Americans have always been naive, we just take for granted what we have, and we always thought of our leaders as good people. With Watergate, people became cynical about government.

Today, she says, Washington is a bunch of self-serving She searches for an expletive and after a second settles on men. She says, Its hard to believe that people are so out for themselves. It goes against what you would like to believe about your country. I feel eloquence is incredibly important for a leader, and we had that with Barack Obama, who made his initial impact because he gave that incredibly eloquent speech, but he lost his eloquence in his presidency. We always need someone to say, I hear you, someone who can put their words into unity and hope and we dont have that. I think the last person may have been Robert Kennedy.

And now you have Trump tweeting nonsense.

Its devastating. Social networks are now like our nervous system, and if you keep pumping that kind of crap into the nervous system, it is going to have an effect on a population.

With Kevin Kline in The Big Chill. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Close doesnt talk politics with her friends because she doesnt really have many friends. I have always forced myself into situations I am not comfortable in. I am an introvert, and I was painfully shy as a child. I think I still have a big dollop of that in my persona. I read a book called Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Cant Stop Talking and it was a real comfort to me I realised I was that person I had always been. And it was at that point I told myself to stop pushing myself into situations that I dont enjoy. I dread cocktail parties.

She tells me shes pretty reclusive and can count her closest friends on two fingers. I ask if shes still good friends with Meryl Streep.

I have never been close friends with Meryl. We have huge respect for each other, but I have only done one thing with her, The House Of The Spirits.

I apologise for assuming they were pals, being of a similar age and stature in Hollywood, and admit this negates my next question: Who would win in an arm wrestle, you or Meryl?

Close laughs. Oh, I would, because I am very strong.

***

The tightest bond Close has is with her only daughter Annie, 29. Annies father is the film producer John Starke whom Close dated for four years from 1987, but never married. Annie was never a door-slamming, difficult teenager. Close tells me: When my Annie was three, she looked at me, and said, I want you. I knew what she meant. I, at the time, was a single working parent, sometimes even when I was home, working or producing something, I was there and not there.

With daughter Annie Starke in 2010. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

She doesnt think its any easier for working mothers today and acknowledges, I had it easy because I could afford to have help think of the women who cant afford it and have to put their child in some shaky childcare centre. No, I think it is incredibly hard for women. Any person, in any profession, feels that tug [of guilt]. We discuss the intimacy of the single-parent, only-child bond. Once, I went to vacuum Annies car seat as we were moving house, and a lot of life had happened there, so I was crying. She said, Mummy, are you OK? I said, Yeah, Im OK. And she said, Here I am.

She was married to businessman James Marlas from 1984 to 1987 and then, following other relationships, including that with Starke, she married again, in 2006, to venture capitalist David Evans Shaw, divorcing him nine years later.

Would she marry again?

I dont know.

Does she think marriage is important?

I think it is a positive evolutionary component that we are better with a partner. I think to have a partner that you can go through life with, creating a history with, that you can find a comfort with, have children with there is nothing better. This is an opinion I have come to very late in life, at an ironic moment, where I dont have any of that. I dont know if I will again. But I do think its a basic human need to be connected.

Despite this, shes happy on her own right now. This is a good time in life. I do think, what would it be like to have a partner again? But it would have to be very different from what I had before. Then I have that great dream and wake up happy.

Crooked House is on Channel 5 at 9pm on 17 December.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/16/glenn-close-harvey-weinstein-mental-illness-cult-fatal-attraction

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