Glenn Close has never done things the easy way, and 'The Wife' is just the latest example

LOS ANGELES - Five years ago, Glenn Close loaded her two old terrier mutts, Bill and Jake, into her car and drove to the coastal Massachusetts set of the HBO limited series "Olive Kitteridge." She chatted with Frances McDormand, and then found the series' writer, Jane Anderson, who had sent Close a new script, an adaptation of Meg Wolitzer's novel "The Wife."

Close and Anderson found an empty trailer where they hunkered down to discuss this story of a woman questioning her long-standing marriage to a celebrated novelist. Close raised so many issues that Anderson figured the actress didn't want the part. But she eventually learned that that's just how Close works. She needs to understand everything before the cameras roll.

Five years later, and 11 months after premiering to strong reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, "The