Glenn Close In 'Albert Nobbs': Female Actresses Who Play Male Roles

To tackle the title role of 2011's "Albert Nobbs," Glenn Close exchanged her usual gender-appropriate attire for a bowler hat and tie, playing a 19th-century Dublin woman who passes as a man so she can work as a waiter. Is it any wonder that she scored an Academy Award nomination?

Playing against sex, after all, is a tried-and-true method for gaining respect and recognition in Hollywood. Among the elite actresses who have channeled their inner Y chromosome and reaped the rewards are Hilary Swank ("Boys Don't Cry"), Felicity Huffman ("Transamerica") and Tilda Swinton ("Orlando").

Check out our gallery of gender-bending stars and tell us in the comments: Who nailed it and who fell short?

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[BBLOND]

06:36 AM on 01/30/2012

Hollywood loves this. You haven't MADE as an actor it if you haven't dressed up opposite your gender.

[Erica McClellan]

05:56 AM on 01/30/2012

Victor Victoria! Love that movie.

[lokiesteve]

05:29 AM on 01/30/2012

Shave a lot of women down in the UK and they can pass as a man which is why we see a lot of the trashy clothes and over use of make up.

[liephman88]

05:02 AM on 01/30/2012

Sorry Close but no cigar, Glenn Close might be butt ugly nowadays but in no stretch of ones imagination does she look like a man.

[frglvr1219]

04:57 AM on 01/30/2012

What about Meryl Streep in Angels in America, she played a Rabbi?

[tndelvaille]

04:56 AM on 01/30/2012

This article failed to mention my all time favorite movie Yentl with Barbara Streisand. It is a true classic, and should have been at the top of this list. It's not about how they looked and more about what they were trying to obtain for themselves as women during an era when only men were allowed to matter, to get an education, to be independent. Women who sought the same desires could only do so by adopting a gender not their own. It's about perserverance, and the desire to accomplish a goal - no matter what the challenge, and no matter the restrictions that society imposed at the time.

[Sundae Driver]

04:40 AM on 01/30/2012

What about Ann Coul ter?

[oldman51]

04:40 AM on 01/30/2012

Hands down if this was a competition Linda Hunt would win going away --- just sayin

[robdav265]

04:12 AM on 01/30/2012

I have to say it is hard to look at too, Horrable ! Why? That is sick and twisted really groce !

[Jeff Miletich]

03:54 AM on 01/30/2012

I didn't know Conan O'Brian was in a new movie.....

[jerryz8465]

03:42 AM on 01/30/2012

She looks like a woman dressed up to try and look like a man.

[softballguy18]

03:38 AM on 01/30/2012

Looks like Robin Williams

[liephman88]

05:04 AM on 01/30/2012

LOL! Spot on!

[Paeng S del Rosario]

02:10 PM on 01/30/2012

WAAAHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! I saw the trailer...and I thought the same thing! She looked like Robin Williams...and, maybe, even like Peter O'Toole...LOL!

[Dave Buster]

03:27 AM on 01/30/2012

Yeah there always a few gimmicks Hollywood loves to give out awards for. They all have something to do with whatever agenda its pushing rather than the acting itself. Of course though,Glenn Close is a pretty good actress.

[Al McDonnell]

03:18 AM on 01/30/2012

I thought it was a picture of Peter O'Toole, until I read the header.

[catfishandray]

02:45 AM on 01/30/2012

Glenn Close had absolutely no trouble at all playing the part of a man in "Albert Nobbs." Glenn Close is a very ugly woman to say the least. She can't act no matter what Hollywood says about her acting abiltity. Women like her, and Meryl Streep were chsen by Hollywood at the time of their acting careers because Hollywood was so desperate for any actresses. Hollywood hyped up Close and Streep. Everyone fell for their big screen persona. But they can't act, and they're ugly. Close should have been a man. Neither one of those women could even come close to Betty Davis, Katherine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Joan Leslie, Pricilla Lane etc.

[JoanneRM]

03:03 AM on 01/30/2012

You cannot compare Katherine Hepburn with Audrey Hepburn; they were entirely different actors, with entirely different takes on their art. Katherine was funny in her own way, and totally different from the way Audrey was. When they were serious, there was nothing in common between them. How can you compare each of them with any of the stars of today, if you cannot compare two stars of yesterday with each other?

[Sundae Driver]

04:44 AM on 01/30/2012

Don't bother. That poster just needs a good ene ma.

[Sundae Driver]

04:44 AM on 01/30/2012

That bug is pretty far up there, isn't it?