Diane Keaton’s The Other Sister Co-Star Reveals the Untold Story Behind Their Offscreen Bond in a Resurfaced Interview

Sarah Paulson got visibly emotional on a red carpet this week talking about Diane Keaton, and honestly, it tracks. Their friendship goes all the way back to Paulson’s big early break in 1999, and it lasted right up until Keaton’s death on October 11, 2025, at 79.

From first big movie jitters to a real-life mentor

Paulson met Keaton on Garry Marshall’s 1999 romantic dramedy The Other Sister. Paulson was the new kid on a big studio set and, by her own telling, pretty intimidated. Keaton clocked that immediately and took her under her wing. At Chanel’s Through Her Lens luncheon this past September, Paulson looked back on that and basically described Keaton as the dream version of a screen icon turned mentor: generous, playful, fun, fully alive. That on-set kindness turned into a real friendship that stuck for more than two decades.

The Other Sister cheat sheet

• Title: The Other Sister
• Release date: February 26, 1999
• Director: Garry Marshall
• Writers: Garry Marshall, Bob Brunner; uncredited rewrites by Malia Scotch Marmo
• Main cast: Juliette Lewis (Carla), Diane Keaton (Elizabeth), Giovanni Ribisi (Danny), Tom Skerritt (Radley), Sarah Paulson (Heather), Poppy Montgomery (Caroline)
• Genre: Romantic comedy-drama
• Production: Walt Disney / Buena Vista
• Cinematography: Dante Spinotti
• Running time: 129 minutes

The friendship in the years between

The two kept up off set too. They were spotted at dinners over the years, and during the pandemic in May 2020, Keaton posted on Facebook about a video Paulson sent her that really stuck. When Paulson finally ventured out after lockdowns, she told Jimmy Kimmel in June 2021 that her first dinner in 17 months was with Keaton. The running bit at those dinners: Keaton loved Lillet Blanc on ice so much that Paulson joked she basically liked to eat it more than food. Again, a tiny detail, but it tells you a lot.

Paulson was also at Keaton’s daughter’s wedding in June 2021. Around that same time, Interview Magazine ran a feature where 25 friends tossed questions at Keaton. Paulson asked what makes her heart sing, and Keaton answered with exactly the mix of warmth and oddball specificity you expect: friends, her kids, Paulson, and yes, Lillet Blanc with lots of ice.

Paulson on the red carpet this week

At the All’s Fair premiere, Paulson was asked about Keaton and could barely get through it. A clip made the rounds online, and in her chat with Access she put it as plainly as possible:

'She was a very dear friend of mine, so it is not something I am able to talk about yet. What you thought she was as a performer ... she was even more spectacular as a human being. And I was the luckiest person in the world to have had her in my life the way that I did.'

In another interview, she said she was incredibly close to Keaton and that this is a profoundly sad time. The gist: whatever you loved about Keaton on screen, it was even more true when you actually knew her.

Hollywood, also grieving

After Keaton’s passing on October 11, tributes poured in. Bette Midler shared a note that made it clear the friendship came first. Kimberly Williams-Paisley posted to Instagram. Robert De Niro told The Hollywood Reporter he was very sad and fond of her, genuinely surprised by the news, and that she will be missed. Francis Ford Coppola, Kate Hudson, Jane Fonda, Nancy Meyers, Octavia Spencer, and plenty of others added their own memories and condolences. When someone’s work stretches across that many eras and filmmakers, the ripple is big.

Where to watch and one last thing

If you want to revisit where Paulson and Keaton met, The Other Sister is streaming for free on Hoopla. And if you did not know these two were this close, you are not alone. For all the awards and iconic roles, sometimes it is the small, weirdly specific stuff that sticks: a glass of Lillet Blanc on ice, an early-career lifeline, and a friendship that outlasted the movie that started it.