Patricia Arquette Recalls Working with Diane Keaton When She Directed Her in “Wildflower”, Including Her 'Loud Laugh’ (Exclusive)
Patricia Arquette Recalls Working with Diane Keaton When She Directed Her in “Wildflower”, Including Her 'Loud Laugh’ (Exclusive)
Erin ClackSat, March 28, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC
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Diane Keaton and Patricia Arquette in 2015Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty for Hammer Museum -
Patricia Arquette spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about working with Diane Keaton when she directed her in the 1991 television movie Wildflower
She recalled how the late Annie Hall actress was "incredibly warm and supportive" of everyone on set
Keaton died on Oct. 11, 2025, at the age of 79
Patricia Arquette is sharing some fond memories of working with the late Diane Keaton.
The Father of the Bride actress directed Arquette, 57, in the 1991 television movie Wildflower, based on Sara Flanigan's book Alice. While speaking with Danny Pellegrino, who hosted PEOPLE's exclusive coverage of the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Academy Awards Viewing Party in Los Angeles on March 15, Arquette remembered being "so nervous" to act in front of Keaton — but also witnessing how supportive the Annie Hall star was of everyone on set.
"She was incredibly warm and supportive of the crew, of her actors. She was really with you in the scene," Arquette said, noting that she also worked with Keaton on the 1990 CBS Schoolbreak Special episode "Girl with the Crazy Brother." Keaton directed the project, and Arquette starred as a teenage girl struggling to cope when her brother is diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Patricia Arquette on the set of 'Wildflower' in North CarolinaCredit: atherine Bauknight/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Arquette recalled how Keaton — who died on Oct. 11, 2025, at the age of 79 — would react to the cast's performances in the moment.
"I would do a scene, I'd do something funny, and then you would hear this loud laugh off camera, and she'd be like ... at that monitor, laughing. But she'd be like, 'Oh, I just started laughing,' " she explained. "Or you'd be crying. You'd finish the scene, you'd look at her, and she'd have tears in her eyes. She would really imbue you, touch your back before, and just support you."
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The Boyhood actress described Keaton as "an incredible human being," and noted her dedication to her family. "She adored her kids. She loved being a mother," she said.
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Diane Keaton and Patricia Arquette in 2015Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty for Hammer Museum
The Oscar winner welcomed two children — daughter Dexter, 30, and son Duke, 26 — via adoption.
Just days after Keaton's death last year, Arquette paid tribute to the actress while speaking with PEOPLE at the New York City premiere of Murdaugh: Death in the Family on Oct. 13.
“She was just so immediate, and so alive and so generous,” she said of Keaton at the time.
“[She had] such an incredible vision for beauty and design and photography and art,” as well as “the arts and music,” Arquette continued.
Patricia Arquette at the Elton John AIDS Foundation's 34th Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 15, 2026Credit: Kayla Oaddams/FilmMagic
Arquette also shared her observation that Keaton was someone with "no pretenses" and who was “very much her own person."
"We have very few original artists, like real original people, and what an actress," she told PEOPLE. “If you watch Reds or Looking for Mr. Goodbar, you know all her comedies, but also of course Annie Hall and The Godfather, I mean, her acting is just incredible.”
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