Diane Keaton’s Book Club Costars Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen Speak Out After Actress’ Death at 79

Diane Keaton’s Book Club costars are heartbroken to lose one of their close friends.

Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen are sharing tributes to Keaton after news broke of her death at 79. The actresses remember Keaton for her charm onscreen and off.

Fonda shared a tribute to Keaton on Instagram, writing, “It’s hard to believe…or accept…that Diane has passed. She was always a spark of life and light, constantly giggling at her own foibles, being limitlessly creative… in her acting, her wardrobe, her books, her friends, her homes, her library, her worldview. Unique is what she was. And, though she didn’t know it or wouldn’t admit it, man she was a fine actress!”

Bergen shared a statement with her memories of her friend. “This is a huge loss, both personally and for all of us. Diane was a true artist – tremendously gifted and uniquely talented in so many disciplines, yet also modest and wonderfully eccentric. I will miss her terribly.”

“Diane was magic. There was no one, nor will there ever be, anyone like her,” Steenburgen shared in her own statement. “I loved her and felt blessed to be her friend. My love to her family. What a wonder she was!!!”

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The three actresses costarred with Jane Fonda as a group of best friends whose lives took unexpected turns after they read 50 Shades of Grey together. The film and its 2023 sequel, Book Club: The Next Chapter, also featured Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss, and Craig T. Nelson.

Back in June 2019, Steenburgen told Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM Radio channel Radio Andy, that the four actresses became “kind of obsessed with each other” after the first film.

“Because none of us had ever worked together, and there had been these little meetings over the years between all of us, but the stories are so incredible,” she continued. “And also I love it because I’m the baby of the group, so it’s really nice to, like, for once in my life be the youngest.”

Ahead of the first movie’s 2018 release, Steenburgen told PEOPLE about bonding with her costars. “Something just connected between the four of us,” she said at the time. “It was really fun to be in a situation where we had so much in common, so many things to talk about.”

“I adore each one of them,” she added. “We’ve become true friends.”

In her 2023 cover story interview with PEOPLE, Fonda opened up about the special relationship she shares with Keaton, Bergen, and Steenburgen.

“It’s everything I imagined women’s friendships can be,” Fonda said of their bond.

“When I was younger, there was this assumption that women were kind of catty and four stars working together wouldn’t work because they’d be competing, and it’s just not true. We’re friends and we love working together and we help each other when we need to.”