Meryl Streep’s heartwarming speech about Diane Keaton has gone viral in the wake of the Annie Hall star’s death.
The Oscar-winning actor, whose wit, warmth and individuality made her one of Hollywood’s most cherished figures, died on Saturday (12 October) in California. She was 79 years old.
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Tributes have poured in from her Hollywood peers, honouring Keaton’s life and career on screen. Leonardo DiCaprio, Bette Midler, Robert DeNiro, and Reese Witherspoon are among those to share messages of love for the actor.
Fans have likewise flooded the internet with their favourite moments from Keaton’s oeuvre, including scenes from Annie Hall (1977), Something’s Gotta Give (2003), and First Wives Club (1996).
One video in particular has gone viral on social media. It which shows Streep giving a speech honouring Keaton at her 45th American Film Institute Life Achievement Award Ceremony in 2017.
Streep – who played the sister of Keaton’s character in the 1996 film Marvin’s Room – begins her speech by recalling her own childhood trips to the museum where she and her siblings would rush upstairs to see a giant model of a “transparent” woman made of lucite.
“You could see her guts and her heart and her brain and she was breathtaking,” says Streep, going on to compare the figure to her co-star and friend Keaton who is seen sitting in the crowd next to Steve Martin, grinning from ear to ear.
Nodding to the actor’s penchant for layering her clothes, Streep says: “Diane Keaton, arguably the most covered up person in the history of clothes, is also a transparent woman.
“There’s nobody who stands more exposed, more undefended, and just willing to show herself inside and out than Diane.”
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She continues: “I fell for her pretty much the same time everybody did with Annie Hall because she had the stream of consciousness of a hummingbird. And she’s just so hard to capture, she’s in flight. When she lights down, she stops your heart. She’s given us all so much happiness.”
Streep goes on to thank Keaton’s mother for bringing her into the world, adding: “I can’t imagine the Seventies, Eighties, Nineties, or 2000s without you. Love you, Diane. So does everybody.”
The moment has been shared thousands of times on social media platforms with fans commenting on how happy Keaton looks, and how heartwarming Streep’s speech is.
Speaking to The Guardian after Keaton’s death, Streep called the actor “our American treasure: indelible singular girl and brilliant artist. Crushing news that she is gone, but her smile and her style and antic spirit will live on film and in our hearts forever”.
Keaton’s death came as a shock given that while she had not made any public appearances for some time, there were no reports of illness. A cause of death is yet to be disclosed.
