Nancy Meyers and Diane Keaton first teamed up on Baby Boom, the 1987 film that finds Keaton’s character unexpectedly inheriting a toddler. The actress brought romance and humor to the role. It marked the start of a long collaborative relationship with the writer-director, but they also found great friendship in each other. In an extensive tribute shared on Instagram in the wake of Keaton’s death at age 79, Meyers honored her and all of the ways she knew her: as a friend, an actress, and more.
“These past 48 hours have not been easy,” Meyers said. “Seeing all of your tributes to Diane has been a comfort. As a movie lover, I’m with you all — we have lost a giant. A brilliant actress who time and again laid herself bare to tell our stories. As a woman, I lost a friend of almost 40 years — at times over those years, she felt like a sister because we shared so many truly memorable experiences. As a filmmaker, I’ve lost a connection with an actress that one can only dream of.”
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Meyers and Keaton worked on four films together including Baby Boom, 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give, and the Father of the Bride franchise.
“We all search for that someone who really gets us, right? Well, with Diane, I believe we mutually had that,” Meyers continued. “I always felt she really got me so writing for her made me better because I felt so secure in her hands. I knew how vulnerable she could be. And I knew how hilarious she could be, not only with dialogue (which she said word for word as written but managed to always make it sound improvised) but she could be funny sitting at a dinner table or just walking into a room.”
Meyers added that this wasn’t a connection unique to their relationship. “The truth is — Diane didn’t just ‘get me,’” she said. “I’ve watched all of her groundbreaking spectacular work with Woody Allen a million times and I watch her performance in Warren Beatty’s REDS with awe. Diane did exactly the same for them because that is what she does. She goes deep.”
Keaton’s filmography spanned more than 50 films including Annie Hall, The Godfather, The First Wives Club, The Family Stone, and more. She was awarded an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1977 and received three additional career nominations in the category, including one for her role in Something’s Gotta Give.
“I know those who have worked with her know what I know … she made everything better,” Meyers said. “Every set up, every day, in every movie, I watched her give it her all. When I needed her to cry in scene after scene in Something’s Gotta Give she went at it hard and then somehow made it funny. And I remember she would sometimes spin in a kind of goofy circle before a take to purposely get herself off balance or whatever she needed to shed so she could be in the moment.”
Closing out her tribute, Meyers remembered Keaton as being “fearless,” adding, “She was like nobody ever, she was born to be a movie star, her laugh could make your day and for me, knowing her and working with her — changed my life. Thank you Di. I’ll miss you forever.”
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