Glenn Close on Playing a Scary Church Lady in ‘Wake Up Dead Man,’ Those ‘All’s Fair’ Reviews and Acting With Kim Kardashian: ‘She Always Was Prepared’

Glenn Close is all too aware of how a certain strain of religious fundamentalism can turn toxic. When Close was 7 years old, her parents joined the Moral Re-Armament, a spiritual movement led by an American minister named Frank Buchman that she likens to a cult.

“When I was little, we’d be ushered into this little man named Uncle Frank’s room, and you thought you were meeting God,” Close says. “I don’t think people join cults like that if they’re happy or if they’re whole people. Something’s missing in their lives.”

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Close drew on that experience to play Martha Delacroix, the right-hand woman to a fiery preacher, Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), in “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.” In the film, Martha wields her devotion like a cudgel, making sure that Wicks’ congregation stays in line.

“I empathize with the side of Martha that’s been trying to be a good little soldier since she was just a young girl,” Close says. “She’s missed out on so much in life by taking care of Wicks.”

As Martha, Close wears all-black outfits and a rigid scowl. But filming “Wake Up Dead Man” was a joyful experience, one that saw her bonding with Daniel Craig and the rest of the A-list ensemble on the London set. Instead of retreating to their trailers between scenes, the cast kicked back in one big tent.

“There’d be a table of tea, coffee and some weird English candy,” Close says. “Jeremy Renner had a special chair because he was recovering from his [snowplow] accident. Andrew Scott, who was doing another movie at the time and was tired, would nap. And I would play backgammon with Mila Kunis or Josh O’Connor. There was lots of laughing.”

At 78, Close is busier than ever. She’s on Zoom from Germany, where she’s filming “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.”

“It’s huge,” she teases. “There’s all these extras and helicopters and chariots and horses.”

And she recently joined the Ryan Murphy-verse, playing a wily divorce attorney in the campy Hulu drama “All’s Fair.” “I was intimidated,” she admits. “I’d never been in a Ryan movie or show. … I didn’t understand the tone for a while. I found it hard.”

It was also her first time sharing the screen with Kim Kardashian, and Close came away impressed by the reality TV icon. They hung out during filming, with Kris Jenner organizing a boozy viewing party for the cast so Kardashian could finally see Close boil that bunny in “Fatal Attraction.”

“What surprised me was Kim’s seriousness of intent,” Close says. “She always knew her lines. She never was late. She always was prepared. She had no pretensions that she was a great actress, but she was smart enough to have people around her who she could learn from. If she was a big ego or what I call a ‘life-is-too-short person,’ I would have been unhappy, but she’s not.”

Critics, however, were merciless, savaging the show as loud, ludicrous and dull. Close believes reviewers failed to assess the series in its entirety.

“I personally think that the first three episodes were the weakest,” she says. “That was a tough way to start. I’ve seen all nine episodes, and I think it actually adds up to something.”

It may not have helped that many people have strong opinions about the first family of Calabasas. “The Kardashians would say this themselves, but not everybody likes them,” Close says. “They have an image.”