This story contains spoilers for the movie โFatal Attraction.โ
Of her many notable roles, Glenn Close is probably best known for her portrayal of Alex Forrest in the 1987 thriller โFatal Attraction.โ
The film features Close and Michael Douglas as two strangers who meet at a work event and begin an illicit affair that sours after Douglasโ married character, Dan Gallagher, tries to break off their romance.
Instead of going their separate ways, Close’s character, Forrest, suffers a psychotic break and begins to stalk Gallagher, his wife and their young daughter. Forrest’s behavior becomes increasingly more violent leading to the film’s memorable ending.
However, it was an ending that Close says wasn’t originally scripted.
โThere was an original ending that didn’t end up in the original film,โ Close revealed during a recent segment on โThe Drew Barrymore Show.โ
Fans of the Oscar-nominated thriller may remember that throughout โFatal Attraction,โ Close’s character becomes increasingly agitated over being spurned by Gallagher, leading to a climactic ending in which she breaks into the couple’s home, boils the family pet rabbit in a pot, then attempts to kill her former lover with a butcher knife.
In the end, Gallagher and Forrest battle it out in the bathroom before Forrest is ultimately shot to death by his wife, Beth (played by Anne Archer).
However, according to Close, that ending was much different than was was in the script with Forrest, an ardent fan of โMadame Butterfly,โ emulating the opera’s tragic ending the film’s original finale.
โIn the original ending (Forrest and Gallagher) have that terrible fight and then she takes that same knife and as โMadam Butterflyโ is playing, she cuts her throat and she dies,โ Close told Barrymore, who audibly gasped out loud.
โDid they shoot that scene?โ asked Barrymore. โThey did shoot that scene,โ Close replied.
But according to Close, that alternate ending never made it to theaters because test audiences hated it. Specifically, they hated Close’s character.
โThe audience hated (Forrest) so much for coming between that perfect little family, even though (Gallagher) cheated on his beautiful wife, that they felt she needed to be punished even more, so they came back and told me that they’re going to re-shoot it,โ said Close.
The decision surprised Close, who says she did research and interviews ahead of the role, determining that she โwould have done herself in before she would have killed, she was not a psychopath,โ explained Close.
In fact, upon learning of the film’s new ending, Close says she refused to do it, but changed her mind after a meeting with the film’s director, Adrian Lyne, producers and Michael Douglas.
โI was saying, โWhat if it was you? What if it was your character? What did you do?โ Like, I was so furious,โ she said.
The decision to re-shoot led to an Oscar-nomination for Close, as well as five others for the film in 1988, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Archer and a Best Director nod for Lyne.
