Award-winning actress Glenn Close recently opened up about her challenging childhood spent in a religious cult and how her vivid imagination helped her cope with the experience.
Speaking with Willie Geist on TODAY's Sunday Sitdown, Close reflected on her unconventional upbringing in the Moral Re-armament (MRA) movement, which she joined at age seven when her father became involved with the religious group.
"From a very early age when we were running feral in the Connecticut countryside, I always had an incredibly active imagination," Close shared. "I could take myself out of situations sometimes with my imagination, and not let it get into me as deep as it might have."
The actress spent 15 years, from age 7 to 22, living under the strict rules and control of the MRA after her family relocated from Greenwich, Connecticut to the group's headquarters in Switzerland.
In a previous interview for AppleTV+'s "The Me You Can't See," Close described the emotional toll of growing up in what she calls "basically a cult," where individual expression was discouraged and members were expected to conform to group thinking.
"Because of how we were raised, anything that you thought you would do for yourself was considered selfish," Close revealed, highlighting the lasting impact of childhood trauma.
Despite these challenges, Close credits her rich imagination for helping her stay focused on her dream of becoming an actress. Her ability to mentally escape difficult situations through creative visualization ultimately paved the way for her successful 50-year career in theater and film.
The Fatal Attraction star continues to process her experiences, telling Geist "I'm still working it out," demonstrating how childhood experiences in restrictive religious movements can leave lasting emotional scars even decades later.