Why Glenn Close Has No Man

Glenn Close says she's nothing like the impeccably clad housefrau she plays in The Stepford Wives (opening tomorrow). In fact, the 57-year-old star's biggest fear is glamming up and dressing to perfection for Hollywood events!

"It is the absolute burden of my existence," Close admits. "It is an absolute horror. When I have to go somewhere it is like, 'What am I going to wear — and who is going to criticize it?' I hate it.

"I'm very bad at shopping, and I don't like spending money on clothes," she adds with a sigh. "I'm very lucky to have designers that will lend me things [or] give a lovely discount, and that's nice. I was not raised [with] shopping as entertainment, so for me, it is absolute agony. I'm very lucky to have people to help me."

A single mother, Close doesn't blame fashion foibles for her lack of a boyfriend. Instead, she feels her strong career choices are the problem. "I realized the other day that I have been in this profession for 30 years, which is amazing. I've worked very, very, very hard," she says, "but also I play characters that I think terrify men, and that is how [I'm] perceived.

"I am not [Fatal Attraction's] Alex Forrest," she insists. "I am not the Marquise de Merteuil [from Dangerous Liaisons]. But that's the baggage that people bring when they meet me. I think that has actually affected whether I get a date or not."