Nancy Meyers Pays a Warm and Loving Tribute to Diane Keaton
Meyers Nancy cannot hide her liking of Keaton Diane. After the death of the Something’s Gotta Give star on Oct. 11 at 79, Nancy was very moved and shared a tribute to her colleague that she had been working with for a long time.
“I’m with you all as a movie lover—we have lost a giant,” the director wrote on Instagram Oct. 13. “A very fine actress who in almost every one of her roles she went down to the wire to make the films our own.”
A Friendship of Almost Four Decades
Nancy Meyers shared that the passing of Diane Keaton was a very significant loss for her emotionally, and she did it in a very lovely and heartfelt way. “I, as a woman, lost a friend that I have been for almost 40 years,” she explained. “We were so many times that we could hardly forget, it became a kind of sister to me.”
Their relationship was more than just friends, it was the result of their work together on Father of the Bride, Baby Boom, and Something’s Gotta Give. “It is beyond my imagination that I, as a director, have lost the most fantastic artist and the most wonderful actress,” Nancy said. “We all, don’t we, seek for that one person who comprehends us completely?” Well, at least in my case, Diane was that person with me and I was that person with her.”
Nancy Meyers on Diane Keaton’s Unique Talent
One of the ways in which writer Diane Keaton’s insight enhanced Nancy Meyers’ writing, was Nancy Meyers’ own recollection. “I always felt that she really understood me, therefore writing for her made me better because I felt so safe in her hands.”
Among other things, Nancy singled out Diane’s incomparable ability to combine vulnerability with humor and pointed out that her star power was evident in every film she did—from Woody Allen’s to Warren Beatty’s Reds. “Diane did exactly the same for them because that is what she does,” Nancy said. “She penetrates deeply. And I am pretty sure those who have collaborated with her, they know what I know… she made everything superior.”
Nancy Meyers Remembers Magic Diane Keaton on Set
After all these years, Nancy still beams whenever she reminisces about her stint as a director of the 2003 film Something’s Gotta Give with Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Keanu Reeves. Nancy said, “She attacked it vigorously and then in some way made it humorous.” “I recall that she would at times wrap herself in a sort of silly circle just before a take in order to intentionally throw herself off balance or if it was something she had to let go of so that she could be completely present,” Nancy shared.
“She was really one of those movie stars that just needed to be born,” Nancy emphasized. “It was definitely a life-changing experience for me to know her and work with her,” Nancy said. “Thank you, Di. I will always miss you.”
