Glenn Close says Gwyneth Paltrow's Oscar win 'didn't make sense'

Glenn Close really doesn't think that Gwyneth Paltrow should have won an Oscar back in 1999.

Though she'd worked as a child actor, Paltrow burst onto the world stage after winning the Best Actress gong for her role as Viola De Lesseps in John Madden's Shakespeare In Love.

It was a shock at the time - she beat the likes of Cate Blanchett, in Elizabeth, Meryl Streep in One True Thing and Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro in Walter Salles' celebrated drama Central Station, which was also nominated in the Best Foreign Language film category.

And now Glenn Close has rather heavily implied that she was baffled by the decision.

She told ABC News: “I remember the year that Gwyneth Paltrow won over that incredible actress who was in Central Station, and I thought, 'What?'

“It's like... you know... it doesn't make sense.”

The movie, penned by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman, and produced by Harvey Weinstein, ended up sweeping the board.

It won seven Oscars in all, including Best Picture, beating the likes of Saving Private Ryan, Life Is Beautiful, Elizabeth and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line.

Close is thought to be a hot contender for the 2021 Oscars, meanwhile, for her role in Ron Howard's movie Hillbilly Elegy.

However, a nomination would sit in contrast with the horrible reviews the movie has suffered.

Close is transformed for the role, playing Mamaw Vance, the matriarch of a poor family from the Appalachians, torn apart by addiction.

AV Club called it 'bootstrapping poverty porn' that 'reinforces the stereotypes it's meant to be illuminating’, while The Atlantic reckons it to be 'one of the worst movies of the year'.

It's streaming now on Netflix.

Watch: How Glenn Close transformed for Hillbilly Elegy