After Five Decades, Glenn Close Reveals Her Best On-Screen Kiss — And Who Gave It
Five decades in, Glenn Close just dropped the behind-the-scenes gem fans crave: Robert Redford takes the crown for her best on-screen kiss.
Glenn Close has been doing this for more than 50 years, and she can still drop a story that makes you lean in. On Julia Louis-Dreyfus's podcast 'Wiser Than Me', she named the co-star who gave her the single most memorable kiss of her career and then casually revealed a post-wrap invitation that she absolutely did not clock at the time.
The best on-screen kiss, per Glenn Close
Close says the crown goes to Robert Redford. She was talking about their time on Barry Levinson's 1984 baseball drama 'The Natural', and the chemistry that made their scenes pop. After filming, Redford invited her out to what she now realizes was a very deliberate, very romantic dinner. In the moment, she missed it completely.
"I was too clueless and unknowing and unsure to even consider that I might have dated him... I didn't get it."
She laughed about the missed signal on the podcast. And while nothing happened off camera, she still calls the kiss they shared on screen the standout of her career. She even joked that she only got to do it once — maybe twice if you count a second take.
Quick refresher: 'The Natural'
- Redford plays Roy Hobbs, a late-blooming phenom who revives a struggling ball club.
- Close is Iris Gaines, the grounded, luminous presence who becomes his anchor and love interest.
- The film earned Close her third Oscar nomination, and their quiet, charged connection is a big reason the movie still lands.
- Close says the project kicked off a friendship with Redford that lasted long after the closing credits.
After the movie, and after Redford
Close says she and Redford stayed close for years. Following his death in September at 89, she told CNN she remembered him not just as a screen partner but as a builder — someone who put his time, money, and energy into the ideas and artists he believed in.
So, yes, the most unforgettable kiss was a one-take (maybe two) wonder — and the near-date that never was. Sometimes the best spark lives exactly where we saw it: on screen.