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Patty Hewes – the driven, manipulative lawyer of the new FX series, "Damages" – is exactly the kind of role actor Glenn Close relishes sinking her teeth into.

"The one thing I love about Patty, and a lot of these women I've played, is they love the game," Close said, adding that such characters pull adrenalin from their schemes. "[Patty Hewes] is the same. An adrenalin junkie, as far as playing that game of manipulation."

That makes sense, especially when one examines the roles Close is perhaps best known for: bunny-boiler Alex Forrest in "Fatal Attraction," cunning widow Marquis de Merteuil in "Dangerous Liaisons," hatchetwoman Alicia Clark in Ron Howard's "The Paper." But after a 13-episode stint on the widely-acclaimed FX series, "The Shield," Close said she agreed to another 13-episode series partly because she could work in New York.

"I have a wonderful husband who is not in the business," she said, referring to David Shaw, whom she married in early 2006. "And I have a daughter who is going to college – she just finished her freshman year in a college in New York State. I'm very, very rooted to the East Coast and want to spend time with my husband. So it's a huge balance.

"As the week gets longer and goes on, you work further into the night," Close added. "You kind of know that you're not going to see somebody until late at night and then you have to get up early in the morning. But for me, what made it worthwhile is that it's only 13 episodes."

Close is something of a homebody, one who makes a point of not taking her work home with her.

"I don't take it with me, at all," she said, laughing. "Sometimes, I take the makeup. But I can't wait to get home and see Dave and my daughter, if she's around."

That said, Close never seems to let up when it comes to her career, a career which has moved fluidly between film, television and the Broadway stage.

"I've always been seduced by really good writing," she said. "Very early on in my career, I made the decision to go where the writing was. When I was told after doing ‘The World According to Garp' that if I did anything on television it might affect my career in film, it just didn't make sense to me."

Close acknowledged that for whatever reason, complex roles for women just don't seem to be as forthcoming in Hollywood. Television is where it's at.

"As far as the kind of Hollywood movie for older women who aren't just there to be pretty, they're much more problematic," Close said. "And so to find these real, authentic, complex, strong or whatever female parts, I think that kind of writing is being done for television."

Aside from acting, one of Close's biggest passions is her dogs. (She has two that she brings to the set every day.) Imagine her surprise, then, when it turned out her "Damages" character may be behind a dog's murder.

"I thought of my mother," Close said. "‘Oh, my mom's going to hate this.' We're dog fanatics in my family. I don't know if we'll find out more about what actually happened."

Yet another reason for fans to sink their teeth into "Damages."

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