Glenn Close reveals she grew up in a cult

Los Angeles - Glenn Close found it difficult to trust her instincts after being raised in a cult.

The 67-year-old actress spent 15 years in the Moral Re-Armament's conservative religious community in Switzerland, where she lived until she was 22, and admits it had a "profound impact" on her.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star told The Hollywood Reporter: "For years, I wouldn't trust any of my instincts because my beliefs had all been dictated to me."

Glenn's late father, Dr William Taliaferro Close, became enamoured with the spiritual movement - now known has Initiatives of Change - and moved the family to the organisation's headquarters in the small village of Caux, overlooking Lake Geneva, when she was seven.

A short video about Moral Re-Armament:



The six-time Oscar nominee said: "You basically weren't allowed to do anything, or you were made to feel guilty about any unnatural desire. If you talk to anybody who was in a group that basically dictates how you're supposed to live and what you're supposed to say and how you're supposed to feel, from the time you're seven till the time you're 22, it has a profound impact on you. It's something you have to consciously overcome because all of your trigger points are wrong."

She added: "Many things led me to leave. I had no toolbox to leave, but I did it... I'm not going to go into the details of leaving."

The Fatal Attraction star initially suffered from nightmares about betrayal after leaving the group, but has since forgiven her father, as she believes the experience helped make her a better actress.

She said: "I always thought, the way life works, the burden of forgiveness is on the child. I always felt that I was held together with Scotch tape and paper clips, and, as an actor, that's good."


(Getty Images)