Glenn Close has been keeping company with Albert Nobbs — the awkward, emotionally stunted woman who disguises herself as a man in 19th century Dublin — for quite some time. In 1982, the year she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress as Robin Williams’ mother in The World According to Garp, Close played Albert on stage and won an Obie. Fourteen years ago, she took out the first option on the original short story by Irish writer George Moore in hopes of bringing the play to the screen.

Finally, on Friday, Albert Nobbs opens in theaters, just in time for Close’s portrayal to earn her a sixth Oscar nomination.

Close, who’s in New York filming the final season of FX’s Damages, has never been able to shake the appeal of this unique character.

“It was austere,” she says of the original off-Broadway production. “It was pure storytelling. But for the seeming simplicity of the story, the audience was just blown away emotionally. It’s the quality of this naif. Circumstance put her in this place; she hasn’t had any kind of life. But she dreams she can have a life. There’s something mesmerizing about that.”

In the film, directed by Rodrigo Garcia, Albert works as a waiter, keeping her secret close and saving her money to someday open a small tobacco shop. But the arrival of a housepainter with a secret (Janet McTeer, nominated for Best Supporting Actress) slowly frees Albert to imagine a life shared, even though she lacks the barest understanding of the complications of human connection. She begins to fantasize about a quiet, safe future with young housemaid Helen (Mia Wasikowska), though Helen has plans of her own.

Close’s involvement in the film was extraordinary, even by her own busy standards. She co-produced the film, co-wrote the script (with Gabriella Prekop and Man Booker Prize-winner John Banville) and even provided lyrics for the film’s haunting original song, Lay Your Head Down, sung over the end credits by Sinead O’Connor.

“I’ve never done this much before,” says Close, 64. “I’ve developed scripts before; I did the whole Sarah, Plain and Tall thing with Patricia MacLachlan. … I consider myself a hands-on producer, someone who gets the script right in the trenches, someone who hires the team. But I’ve never been as invested in something as I was in this.”

Getting Banville to work on the screenplay was “serendipitous,” she says.

“I called him out of the blue. Now we Google everything before we meet people, but I wasn’t addicted to Google at the time, so I didn’t know he was the greatest living Irish writer … which was probably good; I might not have asked! But he was fantastic … he even came by about three times during the shooting. I’d call him or email him with questions. ‘Do you have a great way of saying “My father is a drunk?” ’ And he’d come back with ‘My father is a fierce hoor for the drink.’ ”

Playing Albert on film, where close-ups magnify the slightest emotion, also presented new challenges

“The biggest challenge was what to show in my face at any time,” Close says. “Her face is her mask. Your face says a lot, but for this character, it’s dangerous to look someone in the eye. And yet when she starts plotting her dream she looks people in the eye. It’s an important moment, and it was very hard for me to chart that, because she’s been invisible for 30 years. ‘What is that like?’ I kept thinking. … When Albert asks Helen to walk out for the first time, she can’t be too forthright because she hasn’t done it before. When Helen puts her head on Albert’s shoulder, that’s the first time that’s ever happened. There’s something very childlike about Albert. I think actually playing her when I was older makes it more poignant.”