One of the most talked about moments at last night’s Academy Awards, which wasn’t involved in the controversial decision to end the show on the Best Actor category where the producers presumed that Chadwick Boseman would win, was when nominee Glenn Close recognized and performed “Da Butt.” The moment came during a bit that largely brought the entire momentum of the show to a halt as Lil Rel Howery wandered the crowd and quizzed attendees on songs that may or may not have been nominated for Oscars. His interaction with Close quickly went viral and has since been revealed to have been a scripted moment, but frankly she sold it well (she’s an eight-time nominee after all).
“Glenn Close, that meme will now replace Ellen taking the selfie for the next 20 years,” ABC’s Rob Mills, executive VP of unscripted and alternative entertainment at Walt Disney Television told Variety. “You could see the way she was talking about it. She’s very learned, and whatever it is, whether it’s a role or something she’s doing for the Oscars, she does her research. So I think it was very clear. If Glenn Close had not heard ‘Da Butt’ before this, she knew it when Lil Rel asked her about it.”
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Regarding her standing up and actually doing the dance, Mills added, “It was certainly something nobody expected. I mean, that was not in any rehearsal of it or anything. I think that, again, shows that she’s sort of game for anything….I have it on good authority that Glenn and John Malkovich did ‘Da Butt’ all the time on the set of ‘Dangerous Liaisons.’”
Mills also added that it was ironic that Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made a joke about karaoke while on stage, adding:
“It’s funny that Frances McDormand mentioned karaoke, there was talk of a karaoke bit that couldn’t happen just because of microphones and things like that, you couldn’t do it. I think that’s what morphed into the Oscar trivia bit, which ended up being for the best, obviously.”
Though Close lost the Best Supporting Actress award, she did open up about what she would have done if she won. “I actually haven’t, but I have this fantasy — and I think I would actually do it — that I might take it to the local library for people to look at; I might take it to the coffee shop I go to a lot,” Close explained to People. “So that people can actually see what it’s like. To kind of bring this world into everyday life. That’s what I will do.”
(Cover photo by ABC/AMPAS via Getty Images)
