Diane Keaton Loves Making Out, Man Buns & Feminism
Diane Keaton’s street style is on point. Photo: Getty Images
Thirty seconds into my phone call with Diane Keaton, I’m even more star struck than I was before. And not because, at 69, she’s a style icon who’s enjoyed one of the longest working careers of any actress (45 years and counting)—though all of those things happen to be true. It’s her candor: Self-deprecating, haphazardly brilliant and delightfully unscripted, which is a quality that is in woefully short supply in Hollywood (and elsewhere) these days. To talk to Keaton is to fall down a rabbit hole of witticisms and canny observations at a breathless pace. By the thirty-minute mark, Keaton has expounded on everything from the man bun (she loves it) to kissing her many male co-stars over the years (also loves it)—and even stopped to ask, rather abruptly, what I think of Hillary Clinton.
But that’s not the reason for our call. That’s Love the Coopers, a holiday film starring Keaton and nearly every other famous person on the planet. Okay, not quite. But the cast includes—deep breath—John Goodman, Marisa Tomei, Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Anthony Mackie, and Ed Helms. It’s a touching story that explores the complexities of familial relationships and the lengths we go to protect—or cope with—them.
“Christmas is such an intense time for all of us,” Keaton explains, on what drew her to the project. “The things that we try to avoid when we’re sitting around those tables…I think all the problems [the characters struggle with] are moving and touching. A story with a conflicted family? Of course I’m gonna like that.” Director Jessie Nelson (Stepmom, I Am Sam-) sent her the script early on and Keaton instantly connected. “I thought it was a great part for me,” she says. “I loved the script and I wanted to work with Jessie.”
She also didn’t object to the fact that the role included a steamy makeout with co-star John Goodman. “There’s never a problem where I have men kissing me and pretending to like it,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a little confusing when they say cut and it’s over, and then there’s John thinking why he had to do it. But it’s nice for me. I really enjoy having men be in love with me because they have to pretend to like me.”
Diane Keaton and Woody Allen on the set of Annie Hall. Photo: Everett
Does she have a favorite kisser from her many years as a leading lady? “Oh no no no!” Keaton squeals. “I like them all!”
After a split second pause she continues on: “Except for Tutte Lemkow in one of the Woody Allen’s [Love and Death]. He had a mustache on his face and I had to kiss him and his mustache went off on his face. He was a really unusual fellow. It was the only time it was an issue.”
Though Keaton has had many suitors onscreen and off, the actress has famously remained unmarried. This, in conjunction with the strong female leads she gravitates towards, often gets her cited as a feminist icon. But when I ask Keaton what she thinks of the next wave of feminism currently sweeping through the millennial generation, she’s momentarily stumped; she doesn’t keep up with these things. For context, I tell her about Beyonce and Taylor Swift christening themselves as feminists.
“That’s fantastic!” she exclaims. “And what are they doing in terms of helping the cause? They’re enormously successful. Are they organizing campaigns or rallies? Or is it more just spreading the good word?”
Reluctantly, I admit it’s more of the latter.
“Well that’s good, that’s important,” she says crisply. “You know, I’m really concerned about who is going to lead us.” After a rare pause she asks: “What are your thoughts on Hillary?”
Now it’s my turn to be stumped. It’s not that I’m not caught up on U.S. politics it’s just that I’m not prepared to expound intelligently on them to Diane freaking Keaton.
Diane Keaton won best dressed at a party in LA. Photo: Getty Images
Thankfully, Keaton’s irrepressible chatter comes to my rescue. “I don’t exactly understand what people want from their leaders,” she says. “What do we want from the leader of U.S.? We’re so divided. I remember totally understanding Obama winning because of his charm and his great gift, because of his mind and his thoughtfulness. But I think this is a tough one. I do. I’m worried about it. We’ll see.”
One of the reasons why she finds the election race so hard to grapple with is that she has a tendency to put herself in the candidate’s shoes, which offers some insight into the source of Keaton’s superb acting skills. “There’s something about being the leader of the United States, I do not understand why anyone would want that task,” she laments. “It’s always almost impossible. It’s too overwhelming for me to even understand how someone would put their self into that situation, that wants to take charge like that and have massive responsibility. Don’t you think it’s horrible? So, I don’t know. We’ll see.”
I’m not about to let Keaton get off the phone with me without having a good chat about fashion, which she’s all too happy to do. “I’m a very visual person so I’m really drawn to fashion,” she says. “Now, I’m all over the internet. I love it. All those visuals. I really follow fashion in my own way. I love street style. I like to see what they’re doing over there in Europe. I really like the man bun. I’m there [on the Internet] and looking at what people are doing—that’s always been my greatest pleasure: to see what you do with beauty and make the best of what you have.”
When it comes to her own personal style, Keaton says it evolved out of “trying to rectify problems.” What problems, you might ask? “Well, like my head,” says Keaton, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I tell her head looks great to me but she’s having none of it. “I knew very early on what my issues were,” she goes on. “So yes, I put a hat on and I was like oh yeah, that’s a better way to go.” But even Keaton—who often and endearingly segues into self-deprecation—can’t deny she’s got some things working for her. “I always think I have good legs so I prefer to show those off,” she says. “Though at this point, I’m not showing too much skin. As you get older, you don’t want your arms out dangling around. You don’t want to think about it.” After a breathless pause, she sums it up: “Anyway, I really love it. I love style. I love fashion. I love it all. Everything. I really do.”
Here, I realize, is not just a legendary actress getting interviewed for probably the zillionth time in her career but an individual who is genuinely curious and irrepressibly passionate about the human experience. And that, of course, is the key to her charm—and her success.
