Glenn Close attends Albert Nobbs premiere in Dublin

Competition may come down to Streep and Close

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Glenn Close as Albert Nobbs

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Most critics agree, the Best Actress Oscar is likely to go to either Glenn Close or Meryl Streep on Saturday. But Close herself says that she's not counting her chickens and any rivalry between the pair is just wishful thinking.

'People would like to think so,' the six-time nominated actor told the Irish Times on the red carpet at Dublin’s Savoy Cinema for a special screening of Albert Nobbs as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

Close and Streep are both nominated for Best Actress next Saturday night – Close for Albert Nobbs, which she co-wrote, produced and starred in; and Streep for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady .

'I’m so thrilled for our team to be nominated, Close told the Times adding that she was delighted to be in Ireland. ';It would never be the movie that it is if it hadn’t been done here,' she said.

Albert Nobbs is based on a 1918 short story by the Irish novelist George Moore and tells the story of a woman passing as a man in 19th-century Ireland. Nobbs takes the work as a waiter at Morrison’s Hotel in order to secure a future for herself on her terms.

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Close originally played the character in a 1982 off-Broadway production where she was startled by the strength of the audiences reaction. Close added that in all that time the story lost none of its strange power and was still highly relevant to audiences today.

'Albert chose a very smart thing to disappear into, a profession in which you’re supposed to be invisible, but you take the trauma with you,' she said. 'We all know more and more today about post-traumatic-stress disorder and what that does to you.'

Close added that women dressing as men in 19th-century Ireland was more common than people are aware of. 'It was one way a woman could actually work,' she added.

Also attending the screening were cast members Brenda Fricker and Bronagh Gallagher and longtime supporter of the arts President Michael D Higgins. The President, who attended with his wife Sabina, praised it as 'a wonderful movie and wonderful production.'

Speaking to the crowd after the screening, Close thanked the supporters of the film and the Irish Film Board 'from the bottom of my heart.'

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