Whether she's playing a grandmother in "Hillbilly Elegy" or twerking at the Oscars, Glenn Close clearly knows how to give her all in a performance.
Close, 74, stole the show at the Oscars Sunday night when she not only recognized the song "Da Butt" from the Spike Lee movie "School Daze," but also twerked along to the song on live television.
The moment happened when actor Lil Rel Howery hosted a quiz break during the show, asking celebrities to determine whether a song from the past was an Oscar winner or nominee or was snubbed.
Close not only answered correctly (noting "Da Butt" was not nominated), but she also got up and did the "Da Butt" dance, which turned into one of the best GIFs of the evening. In fact, it almost seemed too perfect, which made some people question whether the dance was rehearsed.
The Los Angeles Times reported the dance was scripted. However, Close's publicist told NBC News in an email that wasn't the case.
"The quiz, as noted, was requested of the participants and partially scripted. The dance was NOT scripted," the publicist said. "I also wrote the reporter to testify that the dance was NOT scripted, happened then and there."
The publicist added, "I was (as) surprised as everyone else in the known universe."
Close later explained on Instagram how it all unfolded, posting a photo of herself at the ceremony with Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya, his "Judas and the Black Messiah" co-star Darrell Britt-Gibson, and her screenwriter friend Chris Terrio.
"I knew that Lil Rel was going to quiz me about Da Butt and all three guys helped me run through what I was to say," she wrote. "Darrell insisted that I mention the Backyard Band, on top of E.U., Suga Bear and the whole DMV. I had googled 'Da Butt' and watched Spike's music video so when Lil Rel asked if I could do the dance...you can actually see me think of the video. That part was completely spontaneous.
"Daniel, Darrell and Chris egged me on!!! It was ALL their fault," she added.
Related
Close lost in her best supporting actress category to "Minari" star Youn Yuh-jung, marking her eighth nomination with zero wins. That makes Close the most nominated actress to never win an Oscar.
Even still, with those dance moves, she was still one of the big winners of the night!
Related video:
