Oh, Jacky boy. How pure you can be sometimes. Speaking at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, writer-director Nancy Meyers took some time to wax poetic about Hollywood septuagenarian goddess — and noted Babadook doppelgänger — Diane Keaton, and her “off-center†acting style. Specifically, Meyers explained how Keaton will sometimes “spin around to get herself off balance a little bit†before filming certain scenes. “She doesn’t want to be spot-on,†Meyers noted, “or exactly what you’ll expect.†Keaton’s eccentric approach was best personified for Meyers when they were shooting a pivotal scene in 2002’s Something’s Gotta Give. Keaton’s character, a Broadway playwright, professes her love to Jack Nicholson’s character, a playboy businessman, on the streets of Manhattan. Keaton’s acting chops were as sharp and off-kilter as ever — so much so that Nicholson truly believed she went off-book to profess her love to him in the middle of the scene.
“We’re rehearsing that scene in the street, where he’s running after her, and he calls me over after one rehearsal. He’s all rattled,†Meyers explained. “I said, ‘What’s up?’ And he goes, ‘Diane just told me she loves me.’ I couldn’t tell if he was horrified or thrilled. So I was like, ‘Yes, I know, I wrote that line. It’s in the script, Jack.’ And he said, ‘Oh, okay.’ He thought she meant it. It’s really funny. That’s her.†What a woman.