Reese Witherspoon paid a tearful tribute to the late Diane Keaton while on stage at the Hello Sunshine Shine Away Festival on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Reese starred alongside Diane in the 1991 movie Wild Flower, and told guests a heartwarming story of how Diane helped Reese to find her footing in the Hollywood industry. After a panel with author Harlan Coban, with whom she has collaborated on a new thriller, Reese said: "I just wanted to talk to you for one second because – and I'm gonna try and get through this without tearing up – but I don't know if you guys heard that Diane Keaton passed today".
"I had to take a second to really think about it because when I was 15-years-old, Diane was really important to me," said an emotional Reese. "She was one of my first mentors in this business when I was 15 and from Nashville, Tennessee, and I didn't know anybody." Reese then shared that during one of her earliest auditions, she had a "big country accent" that Diane did not believe was real.
"I said: 'I'm Reese Witherspoon, I'm from Nashville, Tennessee.' And she said, 'Are you making that [accent] up?' And I said: 'No, ma'am, I'm from Nashville, Tennessee, and I'd love to be in your movie.' And she told me: "You're hired, you're hired today, tomorrow, and the next day. I don't know who you are, but I am so excited to have you.'"
"That was one of the most important summers of my childhood because she really took the time to pull me aside and say: 'Stand up straight. I want you to have good posture. If you're going to be an actress, you've got to work on your posture, okay?'" Reese told guests, adding: "What I loved about her is she was such an original, and if you just close your mind and think of Diane Keaton… I guarantee you, from Annie Hall to The Godfather to Something's Gotta Give, she is just incredible and indelible and just a truly original person."
© GC Images"So for Diane, watch one of her movies and wear a really cool, interesting outfit, take a cool picture, and just live your dream. Be your unique, interesting self, I think Diane would be really happy, so rest in peace Diane," Reese concluded.
Oscar-winning actress Diane died at the age of 79, her family shared with People magazine. Further details were not available at the time of publication, and her loved ones have asked for privacy, according to a family spokesperson.
© Touchstone/Kobal/ShutterstockKnown for her work in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, romcoms First Wives Club and Father of the Bride, and the mob thriller The Godfather, Diane's co-stars from across the decades paid tribute following the news of her death.
Her longtime friend Goldie Hawn posted a lengthy celebration of Diane's life, writing: "Diane, we aren’t ready to lose you. You've left us with a trail of fairy dust, filled with particles of light and memories beyond imagination. How do we say goodbye? What words can come to mind when your heart is broken? You never liked praise, so humble, but now you can’t tell me to "shut up" honey. There was, and will be, no one like you."
© WireImage"We agreed to grow old together, and one day, maybe live together with all our girlfriends. Well, we never got to live together, but we did grow older together. Who knows… maybe in the next life," added Goldie, who appeared in First Wives Club with Diane. "Shine your fairy dust up there, girlfriend. I’m going to miss the hell out of you."
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyFellow First Wives Club co-star Bette Midler wrote on Instagram: "The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was … oh, la, lala!"
On Instagram, actor Steve Martin posted a screenshot from an Interview magazine article where Martin Short asked: "Who’s sexier, me or Steve Martin?" to which Diane simply replied: "I mean, you’re both idiots."
© WireImageSteve, who starred in Father Of The Bride with Diane, captioned the post: "Don’t know who first posted this, but it sums up our delightful relationship with Diane."
9-1-1: Nashville star Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who also starred alongside Diane in Father Of The Bride, said in a tribute on Instagram that working with her "will always be one of the highlights of my life," adding: "Thank you for your kindness, your generosity, your talent, and above all, your laughter."
Diane was nominated for Oscars for her roles in Something’s Gotta Give, Marvin’s Room and Reds, in which she starred opposite her former love Warren Beatty, and she won the Best Actress Oscar for Annie Hall. She also won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA.
