Glenn Close got a surprise on Saturday, winning her first Independent Spirit Award for her performance in “The Wife.” But she also surprised everyone in the tent on the Santa Monica beach when she brought her dog Pippi on stage with her to accept the award.
“He’s my date,” Close said. “What’s better than that?”
Close tried to begin her touching acceptance speech about the honor of being among a group of women who have battled through awards season and told stories of people who have struggled all their lives, but she didn’t get very far before Pippi started rolling around on stage and investigating those in the front row.
“I brought him up for this very reason,” Close said. “It’s called ‘in the moment.’”
Close won for Best Female Lead in a category that also included Toni Collette, Elsie Fisher, Regina Hall, Helena Howard and Carey Mulligan.
“It’s really, really only ever about the work, no matter what you’re wearing, no matter what red carpet you walk on,” Close said. “The fact that we get together and we tell these stories that really make a difference in the world — that is what we do.”
Aubrey Plaza killed it as the show’s host, but just before she brought out Michael Keaton to introduce the final award for Best Feature, she gave a sendoff with one final off-the-cuff remark.
“Pippi the Dog just scored a three-picture deal at Amazon,” she joked.
Watch video of Pippi’s performance above.