# Glenn Close vs. Meryl Streep **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582 "2010-02-19T02:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/1 "2010-02-19T02:46:07Z")
I just realized that Glenn Close and Meryl Streep are two different people! Do we really need both of them? They never appear together. Both are homely, middle-aged, highly-talented actresses who play the same type of roles. I think the world would be just fine with only one of them. If they really are two different people in the first place, that is, which I tend to doubt. Okay, I’m kidding about thinking they are the same person. But they do seem pretty much interchangeable. What other pairs of actors or actresses are out there that you consider basically equivalent to each other and, in effect, redundant?..TRM ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/2 "2010-02-19T02:48:28Z")
Nearly every actor and actress under the age of 30. Most are talentless hacks who look good on camera, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/3 "2010-02-19T03:09:28Z")
Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell seem pretty interchangeable to me. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/4 "2010-02-19T03:27:50Z")
Glenn would knock the snot out of Meryl in a smackdown. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/5 "2010-02-19T03:46:10Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell seem pretty interchangeable to me. Maybe add Patrick Swayze for a trifecta, if he were still with us. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/6 "2010-02-19T03:52:44Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Both are homely, middle-aged, highly-talented actresses who play the same type of roles. Homely? I wouldn’t call either of them homely. Glenn Close in particular looks pretty good for her age. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/7 "2010-02-19T04:19:25Z")
I don’t see them as interchangable at all. Glenn Close would never have played Sophie or Lindy Chamberlain (_A Cry in the Dark_), and Meryl Streep would never have played Alex (_Fatal Attraction_) or the Marquise de Merteuil (_Dangerous Liaisons_). (Well, I could see Streep playing the Marquise, but she would bring more of a vulnerability to the role. I think Close does dangerous/sociopathic particularly well.) ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/8 "2010-02-19T05:16:19Z")
Glenn Close looks a lot like Rutger Hauer, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/9 "2010-02-19T05:20:17Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Homely? I wouldn’t call either of them homely. Glenn Close in particular looks pretty good for her age. [So](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100215/capt.611a01de6aa0462b827f8155d3971575.oscars_nominees_luncheon_cacp136.jpg) [does](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100215/capt.611a01de6aa0462b827f8155d3971575.oscars_nominees_luncheon_cacp136.jpg) [Streep](http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20100215/capt.3270f1f28c094405ad802dda89223757.oscars_nominees_luncheon_cacp101.jpg). Those were taken a few days ago at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon. Neither are homely. Both are excellent actresses, who are, the addled OP aside, very different from each other. Streep is the better actress, but we need both. Having said that, I do occasionally tend to get [Jessica Alba](http://www.jessica-alba-pics.org/images/Jessica_Alba10.jpg) and [Jessica Biel](http://www.hotjessicabiel.info/wallpapers/jessica-biel-57.jpg) confused. I’m getting better, but I still have to stop and think sometimes. Not that Biel and Alba belong on any list that includes Streep and Close, unless it’s about statistics (they all have two eyes, two breasts, one vagina each, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/10 "2010-02-19T05:26:41Z")
As if the OP weren’t wrong on enough counts already, they both had major roles in **The House of the Spirits**. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/11 "2010-02-19T07:37:09Z")
I used to get Karen Allen, Brooke Adams, and Margot Kidder mixed up: > **[Karen Allen | Actress, Director, Soundtrack](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000261/)** > > Known for: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Starman, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull > **[Brooke Adams | Actress, Producer, Writer](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000724/)** > > Known for: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Dead Zone, Days of Heaven > **[Margot Kidder | Actress, Producer, Soundtrack](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0452288/)** > > Known for: Superman, Black Christmas, Superman II In saying “I used to,” I mean more than thirty years ago. Then they all seemed to be young, upcoming actresses who had appeared in a couple of interesting roles who I hadn’t yet clearly distinguished. Now they don’t seem to look so much alike and have had quite different careers. I recall reading an article many years ago about “clone actors and actresses.” These were what we’re talking about here - sets of actors and actresses that could be confused. I suspect that we’re always going to get this among younger actors and actresses. There will be a lot of them contending for the same roles, and slowly they are going to get winnowed out. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/12 "2010-02-19T18:02:19Z")
Early on in his career Paul Newman was considered a Marlon Brando lookalike. Tony Randle got the same response as a cut rate Jack Lemmon, I have heard. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/13 "2010-02-19T20:26:19Z")
Don’t even get me started on the whole Kate Winslett/Cate Blanchett business. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/14 "2010-02-19T21:22:26Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I just realized that Glenn Close and Meryl Streep are two different people! > > Do we really need both of them? They never appear together. Both are homely, middle-aged, highly-talented actresses who play the same type of roles. I think the world would be just fine with only one of them. If they really are two different people in the first place, that is, which I tend to doubt. > > Okay, I’m kidding about thinking they are the same person. But they do seem pretty much interchangeable. What other pairs of actors or actresses are out there that you consider basically equivalent to each other and, in effect, redundant?..TRM You forgot to throw Jessica Lange into the mix. The three are pretty interchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/15 "2010-02-19T21:31:33Z")
What about Bill Paxton/Bill Pulman? Although Paxton has done some pretty unique work on Big Love Or the ones I STILL can’t keep apart - Dermot Mulroney and Dylan McDermott Or going out on a limb a bit - Rupert Everet and Hugh Jackman. Both foreign, darkly handsome song and dance men (although the whole gay thing seperates them, I suppose). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/16 "2010-02-19T22:22:25Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Early on in his career Paul Newman was considered a Marlon Brando lookalike. Tony Randle got the same response as a cut rate Jack Lemmon, I have heard. I can see that – Randall-Lemmon, not Brando-Newman, although Newman did have that broody look. I confuse Gig Young and Robert Cummings. Also these four: Dan Duryea, Van Johnson, Van Heflin, and Vic Morrow. God, I’m old. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/17 "2010-02-19T22:37:16Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I confuse Gig Young and Robert Cummings. Don’t see that one. But I Gig Young and [Richard Long](http://www.cowboydirectory.com/L/long-richard.jpg) were pretty similar looking. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/18 "2010-02-19T22:53:44Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Do we really need both of them? No. We don’t. Caged naked mud-wrestling death-match! Two MILFs enter, one MILF leaves! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/19 "2010-02-19T23:17:45Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Glenn would knock the snot out of Meryl in a smackdown. Stripped to the waist and with Bowie knives? This really should’ve happened thirty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582/20 "2010-02-19T23:20:16Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > Don’t see that one. But I Gig Young and [Richard Long](http://www.cowboydirectory.com/L/long-richard.jpg) were pretty similar looking. **That’s** who I was thinking of – Richard Long. So who does Robert Cummings look like? Is he another Jack Lemmon? Or a young (pre-Marcus Welby) Robert Young? I’m always confusing Cummings and Young with other actors, but right now I can’t remember who. How about Cornel Wilde as the poor man’s Tyrone Power? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glenn-close-vs-meryl-streep/529582.md?page=2)