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Reese Witherspoon has delivered an emotional tribute to Diane Keaton today, just hours after the star’s death at the age of 79 was publicly announced.
Witherspoon was on stage at an event in Los Angeles today, addressing a crowd full of people, when she took a few minutes to address the breaking news of Keaton’s death.
“I just wanted to talk to you for one second – and I’m going to try and get through this without tearing up – but I don’t know if you guys heard that Diane Keaton passed today,” Witherspoon began, her voice faltering, in footage shared on social media by The Hollywood Reporter.
The sad news was met with an audible mix of recognition and surprise in the audience – some called out “yes,” while others appeared to be hearing of Keaton’s passing for the first time.
Witherspoon revealed that Keaton had actually been a key mentor at the start of her career, casting the young star in one of her first roles, in the 1991 television film “Wildflower.”
Keaton was directing the TV movie, and Witherspoon said the Hollywood legend had been instantly charmed by Witherspoon’s naivety and strong Nashville accent, and cast her on the spot.
“Are you making that up? That accent you’re doing?” Keaton had asked her during her audition for the role.
Witherspoon starred alongside Patricia Arquette and Beau Bridges in the movie, and said she was grateful to Keaton for taking her under her wing and offering her some much-needed guidance.
“She really took the time to pull me aside and say, ‘Stand up straight, okay?’ I want you to have good posture. If you’re gonna be an actress, you gotta work on your posture, okay?’ And I was like, ‘Okay, Miss Keaton,’” she recalled.
Another oh-so-Keaton moment came when she was directing Witherspoon in an emotional scene.
“She was like, ‘Oh my god, that was amazing’, and then we did it again, and she goes, ‘That was not as good, so we’re gonna go with the first one,’” she revealed.
Witherspoon called Keaton “such an original” and encouraged those in the audience to celebrate her life by watching her films and also trying to live as she did: “Wear a really cool, interesting outfit, take a cool picture and just live your dream. Just be your unique interesting self. I think Diane would be really happy [with that].”
Witherspoon shared footage of her impromptu speech on social media today, writing that she was “so grateful to have had [Keaton] as a mentor.”
Witherspoon is one of many Hollywood heavyweights paying tribute to Keaton, one of the industry’s most beloved and prolific actresses who retreated from the spotlight in the past 12 months as she faced a reported steep decline in her health.
Among the most emotional tributes came from her co-stars in the hit 1996 film “The First Wives Club,” Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler, who both said they were devastated by the news of her passing.
Keaton, who never married, is survived by the two children she adopted when she was in her 50s, daughter Dexter and son Duke.
English (US)