The actor Diane Keaton called “my generation’s genius”
These days, the word “genius” is thrown around so often that it has almost lost its meaning. After all, if everyone in Hollywood were to be believed, there are about 100 geniuses running around Tinseltown at any one time. Having said that, the word can still have some cache when it is applied to deserving people, such as the actor Diane Keaton dubbed the genius of her generation, which wasn’t exactly lacking in incredible stars.
Keaton and the actor she bestowed with such an illustrious title both broke through in the 1970s, with Keaton’s roles in The Godfather and Annie Hall establishing her as one of the industry’s most beloved leading ladies. Five years after Keaton played Kay Adams, the disillusioned wife of Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s mob classic, Keaton’s “genius” made her screen debut in Julia, before following it up with The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs Kramer in quick succession.
Naturally, the veteran actor wasn’t the only person to tag Meryl Streep with the accolade, and Hollywood quickly realised it had a generational talent on its hands. Astonishingly, Streep was nominated for eight Oscars in the decade following her movie debut, which meant the Academy honoured her for more than half the films she made in that period. She would go on to receive 13 more nominations in her career, walking away with three ‘Little Gold Men’ for her mantle.
However, despite coming to prominence in the ’70s, it took Keaton and Streep until 1996 to work together. In Marvin’s Room, Keaton played a woman dying of cancer who tries desperately to bring her family together before she passes. Streep played her sister in the film, and Keaton explained to Film Scouts that acting opposite a cinematic force like her made her up her game.
“Just to look at her face whips me up and whisks me onto a better place as an actress,” Keaton revealed. “She gives you a tremendous amount; she’s there, she’s always there. And the miracle is that you just get lost in her eyes. I do, anyway!”
Heartwarmingly, Streep returned the favour, telling USA Today in ’97 that the Father of the Bride star has always been “physically incapable of actorishness, or falsity, or any kind of punching up the line for the laughs. She’s just real. Because she’s really on a very high order of artist”. She also revealed that, after making the movie, she realised Keaton had become the sister she never had in real life. “I never had a sister,” Streep noted, “Sure, I got to pick my part, but what I got to do is I got to pick my sister”.
Given their similar career trajectories and obvious warmth for one another, it was unsurprising when Keaton accepted the honour of giving a speech about Streep at her AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony in 2004. The smiling star gushed, “Meryl Streep has made the choice of a trailblazing pioneer and in the process became my generation’s genius”.
When the crowd audibly cheered, Keaton exclaimed, “It’s true, isn’t it? I mean, let’s face it, it’s just mind-blowing… Thank you for giving me the opportunity to recognise the inevitable: that giving love is the true measure of a great artist.”
In later years, Keaton admitted the pair of acting giants aren’t exactly what you’d call friends, perhaps partly because they live on different coasts, with Keaton in Los Angeles and Streep in New York. However, their mutual admiration society is still in full effect, and in 2017, Streep returned yet another favour by giving a speech at Keaton’s own AFI Life Achievement Award event.
“I fell for her pretty much the same time everybody did with Annie Hall,” Streep smiled, noting warmly, “She’s given us all so much happiness”.
