- HFPA
From the Archives: Diane Keaton
by Jack Tewksbury For forty years the HFPA has recorded interviews with famous and celebrated actors, actresses and filmmakers. The world’s largest collection of its kind — over 10,000 interviews — is now in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Library. The audios are fascinating. Below is an excerpt: Dianne Keaton talking out overcoming shyness, the Annie Hall look and her relationship with fashion. “In high school they voted me the Shyest Girl In School. I was so timid I didn’t go up to get the flowers. I’m not as shy and insecure as I once was. I’ve changed. You have to change, otherwise you just get more walled off, more protective, less able to get out and face the world. Sometimes you’ve just got to go out there. Like everyone else, I worry if I do too much, or that I’m not fulfilling myself, or that I didn’t do enough. Or that I’m going to die or lose all my friend or I’m going to miss my family. These are ordinary fears everyone has, and I’m filled with them. I go to bed at night so wound up by fear that I’m going to die or I’m going to lose a loved one. It’s overwhelming. But, basically, the next morning I get up, drink a cup of coffee, and boom! The truth is I never originated (the Annie Hall) look. When I did Annie Hall there were people in the streets looking just like her. I had not created anything. People actually dressed like that. I wasn’t anything like Madonna. It was a cultural thing, but it wasn’t a phenomenon. I’ve always been very clothes conscious, but I don’t think I’m qualified to establish a line. A lot of famous people have tried that but, frankly, you’ve got to know what you’re doing.I’m good at selecting clothes, but there’s a big difference between buying what you like and making up the idea. I’m not everyone’s taste. I said to a nasty friend, “Whenever I’m down in the dumps I buy a dress.” She replied, “I wondered where you got them.” Remember when the style for women was the use of padding in everything? Women had wider shoulders than body-builders. When they came down the street they were scarey. They didn’t take off their clothes. They unpacked.”