Richard Gere is mourning the death of Diane Keaton.
Gere co-starred with the late Oscar winner, who died of pneumonia at the age of 79, early in his career in 1977’s “Looking for Mr. Goodbar.”
“It was the second film I made,” he said Oct. 16 on TODAY.
Looking For Mr Goodbar, lobby card, Richard Gere, Diane Keaton, 1977. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)
Gere and Keaton would team up again more than four decades later in 2023’s “Maybe I Do.”
“Obviously, I think about her now. We made a film a few years ago, too. I hadn’t seen her in a long time,” he said.
Gere went on to say he and Keaton leaned on each other while making “Looking for Mr. Goodbar.”
“That was a difficult film, this very kind of raw, sexual film. And she’s pretty shy and skittish. And I was, too. That was my second film. And we kind of took care of each other, getting through these kind of challenging physical scenes with each other. But I remember just how sweet and gentle she was and how real. And I think anyone who’s ever worked with her (is) just like, ‘This is a real person.’”
Gere is the latest Hollywood heavyweight to pay tribute with touching words about Keaton.
“We all know what an extraordinary, unique, special person and artist Diane is, was, and is,” Keanu Reeves, who co-starred with Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give,” said on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Oct. 13.
Like Gere, Witherspoon worked with Keaton on her second film, 1991’s “Wildflower,” which Keaton directed.
“She was the second director who ever took a chance on me … I was from nowhere,” Witherspoon said on Oct. 14 while appearing on TODAY with Jenna & Friends.
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