Nicole Scherzinger - Sunset Film Update — Page 2

Crusty Bagel said: "Oh hell no! This is an affront to Glenn Close. You want a real movie star? Yea choose Nicole, see what’ll happen to you"

Idiot, Glenn Close is 78 years old. She is no longer viable for this role. 

BrodyFosse123 said: "Was just looking at the ages of Swanson, Close and Nicole when they played the part and also how old Norma Desmond was supposed to be.

In the original 1950 film, it is made clear Norma Desmond is 50 years old. In the musical adaptation, it is also made clear in the text numerous times. Oddly enough, most people assume Norma is a crazy old woman in her 70s. Most actresses who’ve tackled the musical role were under 50 when they played the role. LuPone was 44, both Close and Buckley were 47, Linda Balgord of the 1st US Tour was 36, Paige was 48, Scherzinger was 45. Gloria Swanson was 49 during filming of the original film."

Yet Diahann Carroll (who many have said was the absolute best Norma Desmond) was 60 when she starred in 1995, Petula Clark was 63 when she took the West End Stage in 1995, and  then toured the US in the role when she was in her late 60s.  Rita Moreno was 65 when she played the role on the West End. 

BrodyFosse123 said: "Idiot, Glenn Close is 78 years old. She is no longer viable for this role.

Logistically, Glenn is old enough to play Norma’s mother now.

"


Or father!

I'm a staunch believer that ageism must be fought aggressively. Yet not every story benefits from expanding upward the age of its protagonist(s). The tragedy of Norma Desmond is how quickly she was forgotten and relegated to a Miss Havisham niche in Hollywood. It's startling because 50 isn't geriatric; Norma is put out to pasture while still viable as actor and woman. Therein lies the messaging underneath the black satire - the short shelf life of women - that Scherzinger's Norma captured. You can disagree with everything Lloyd seized and still accept his production's thesis: the entertainment industry is so youth obsessed, it discards women before they've even moved out of the culturally approved self-presentation (I keep thinking of Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson; she played it at 36; even if she appeared 42, let that sink in.). Lloyd made the case that Norma's sexual allure was intact but the industry's preferences negated it.  

If Norma is in fact geriatric, it's not about a woman treated like Havisham; it's about a Havisham. That's not glib, but it's why a 78-year-old doesn't make the same persuasive case. Close's Norma would've been away from the business for nearly half a century. That Norma's belief that she should play Salome moves her into a different realm of self-delusion. Close can suggest 65; she cannot suggest 50. And that's about the storytelling, not ageism. 

Updated On: 8/14/25 at 08:30 AM