Greta Gerwig’s admiration for Diane Keaton: “She can play lots of different things”
Greta Gerwig might now be best known for directing Barbie, her profile as one of Hollywood’s most essential filmmakers rising incredibly fast, but she was once an indie darling of the acting world, a figurehead of the mumblecore movement whose films were a far cry from the bright and bold world of the Mattel doll.
There was a shift in Gerwig’s career around the time she made Lady Bird, which earned Oscar-nominated success and signalled a new era for the coming-of-age movie. Hilarious as it was, brutally honest and moving, this was a film about adolescence that so many could relate to, not least because Gerwig’s innate understanding of girlhood shines through every shot.
From there, further success followed with Little Women and, of course, the megahit that was Barbie, a cultural phenomenon that truly defined the summer of 2023. It was a monolith of a film, an unavoidable and controversial megawatt production, but regardless of whether you fell for the hype or not, Gerwig’s Hollywood status can’t be undermined.
Still, it almost feels like there are two Gerwigs – the indie actor and the Hollywood director. What made Gerwig such a distinctive acting talent, however, is her penchant for charming, slightly quirky, offbeat characters, like the titular character in Frances Ha. It’s an archetype she has played several times, and her appearances in movies like 20th Century Women and Weiner-Dog (taking on the bold role of playing an adult version of cinema’s most tragic child, Welcome to the Dollhouse’s Dawn Weiner) have only solidified her position as an actor.
Some might say that Gerwig is a one-dimensional actor, others would argue that she simply knows how to play a certain kind of person really well. In fact, Gerwig isn’t blind to the fact that she isn’t the most versatile star in the business, once telling The Los Angeles Times, “I don’t think anybody would hire me if they wanted somebody who was completely a blank slate.”
Not every actor can shapeshift like Meryl Streep or Gary Oldman, and that’s OK. “I’m not comparing myself to her, but if you hire Diane Keaton you’re going to get Diane Keaton. She can play lots of different things, but she more often than anything is Diane Keaton,” she added.
Having appeared in movies like The Godfather and Annie Hall, Keaton took the 1970s by storm. While she certainly has the ability to appear across genres, she is best known for her slightly eccentric and ever-charming comedic performances, and her portrayal of Annie in Woody Allen’s classic rom-com truly cemented her as the leader of this kind of archetype, which Gerwig has followed in the footsteps of. Wearing boyish clothes and captivating Allen’s Alvy Singer with her warmth, Annie Hall became one of the ultimate romantic comedy women, and only Keaton could play her; after all, Allen wrote the role just for the actor.
Gerwig knows that, like Keaton, she has a quality about her that prevents her from completely metamorphosing into someone completely far-removed. “I think that would be something closer to what I would be able to do. I don’t ever see myself playing Queen Elizabeth,” she admitted. And that’s fine, Gerwig has never tried to be something she’s not. However, it might just be that she’s actually best at playing the role of director.
