In 2023, Diane Keaton shot her last film, the comedy Summer Camp. Its director remembers her energy, fearlessness and effortless authenticity on set
Diane Keaton had been an icon since before I was even born; who was I to direct her? To fill her head with my dialogue? To give her a note, suggesting: “It might be even funnier if you tried …”?
And yet, as she towered over me in sky-high Gucci platform booties, she never made me feel even one inch less tall as I guided her through what would wind up being her final film.
While many will remember her for her brilliant performances, for the way her laugh instantly transformed a room when she entered or the way she added levity to even the most arduous of night shoots, I will remember her most for what she taught me about being a woman. Diane didn’t merely exist in the world, she shaped it around her, carving a space for herself to be unapologetically Diane. She knew who she was and what she needed to be at her best – such as a second hotel room so that on weekends she had a space to design her next art book. She loved to work and rarely took a day off. But perhaps most importantly, she possessed an envious level of confidence without ever crossing that tenuous line into arrogance.
