On the dark Thursday night in Los Angeles, Sarah Paulson braved the world premiere of Hulu's latest Ryan Murphy series, All's Fair, accompanied by her cast mates and a posse of close friends including Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Teyana Taylor, Niecy Nash-Betts, and Naomi Watts. However, the occasion was bittersweet for Paulson, who was still deeply mourning the sudden loss of her close friend, Diane Keaton. The iconic actress passed away at the age of 79 on Saturday, due to pneumonia.
As Paulson braved the press, she shared her thoughts on what Keaton meant to her over the years, having met while filming The Other Sister in 1999. Keaton played the mother of Paulson's character in the Garry Marshall-directed drama, and they formed a bond that lasted for more than two decades. "I was incredibly close to her and this is a profoundly sad time for me," Paulson told The Hollywood Reporter, choosing to keep her comments brief and her favorite memories of Keaton private. "I can't talk about it in any way that's articulate other than to say that for all you knew and loved about her as a performer, she was even more as a friend."
In an interview with Scott Evans for Access Hollywood, Paulson's voice choked with emotion as she said she was "the luckiest person in the world to have had her in my life the way that I did."
Following Keaton's passing, a video clip shared by InStyle went viral, showing Paulson praising her friend at Chanel's recent Through Her Lens Luncheon in New York. "She played my mother in a movie in my first sort of studio movie," Paulson explained of the Marshall film that also starred Juliette Lewis, Tom Skerritt, and Giovanni Ribisi. "It was a really thrilling experience and she was the most generous, playful, fun, alive performer and really taught me the power of beats in a scene. And I was so scared, and she really took me under her wing and we've been really good friends ever since. She's a filmmaker as well. She's a fashion icon. She's an absolute iconoclast. And I feel very lucky to call her a dear friend."
Tributes have been pouring in all week. Keanu Reeves called her "very unique and just a wonderful artist" during an interview with THR. Richard Gere told the Today show that she was "completely original." Earlier that day, Al Pacino shared his memories of Keaton exclusively with Deadline. "When I first heard the news, I was shaken," he said. "Diane was my partner, my friend, someone who brought me happiness and on more than one occasion influenced the direction of my life. Though over thirty years have passed since we were together, the memories remain vivid, and with her passing, they have returned with a force that is both painful and moving."
