Glenn Close says it was her idea to appear nude in her new film, The Summer Book, an adaptation of a novel by Tove Jansson. In a forest scene shot in Finland, Close’s character walks completely nude.
"It was my idea," she revealed. "I thought that’s something she would do when no one else is around. In Finland, they’re much more used to nakedness than we are."
The Summer Book, based on Jansson's book, follows Sophia, a little girl who spends summers at her family's home in Finland. The film centers on Sophia and her grandmother, played by Close, as they help each other grieve after the death of Sophia's mother.
Close became a grandmother earlier this year when her daughter Annie Starke welcomed Rory in February. The family lives together in Montana, where Close says nature shapes their daily life. "One of the reasons we live here is because we can raise [Annie’s son] surrounded by nature," Close said. "He’ll know that property like the back of his hand, and he'll know the changing of the seasons. He'll know how things grow. He'll get respect for wildlife, he'll build his secret places, and it will sustain him through life, as my childhood did, my early childhood running around the Connecticut countryside."
In January, Close spoke with The Wall Street Journal about life in Montana. She described her modest 1892 brick house and plans to build a second home about 30 minutes outside of town. "It’s going to be my Zen farmhouse and our family sanctuary," she said. "In back will be a stone cottage, reminding me of the best years of my childhood." Close moved to Montana in 2019, and today the family remains rooted there, with siblings nearby and a landscape that she says helps sustain the next generation.
