Reese Witherspoon had a special relationship with Diane Keaton prior to her death at age 79.

“She just really took a chance on me,” Witherspoon, 49, told The Times of London in a profile published on Saturday, October 25. “You never forget those people who give you your first job opportunities.”

When Witherspoon was starting out as an actress, she was cast in the 1991 TV movie Wildflower, directed by Keaton.

“She was just truly original through it all,” Witherspoon recalled of Keaton, further noting that the late icon was like an “auntie to me” during production.

Diane Keaton's Lesser Known Career Resurfaces Following Her Death

Keaton died on October 11 after battling bacterial pneumonia and is survived by her two adult children. Shortly after news of Keaton’s death broke, Witherspoon

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