Nancy Meyers

Nancy Meyers (born December 8, 1949, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) is an American writer, director, and producer who was best known for her romantic comedies, several of which centre on middle-aged women.

Meyers grew up in the Philadelphia area. After studying journalism at American University (B.A., 1970), she moved to Los Angeles to begin a career in the entertainment industry. She spent several years as a story editor, and in 1979 she had a breakthrough with Private Benjamin, which she wrote with Charles Shyer, who became her collaborator and domestic partner, and Harvey Miller. One of the early comedies to centre on women—Goldie Hawn played a widowed newlywed who impulsively joins the army—it was a huge hit, and Meyers earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay. She and Shyer then wrote and produced a series of popular movies, including Baby Boom (1987); Father of the Bride (1991), a remake of the 1950 classic comedy; and Father of the Bride Part II (1995).

In 1998 Meyers directed her first film, The Parent Trap, which was based on the 1961 Disney movie. Although a critical and commercial success, it was her last collaboration with Shyer as the couple subsequently parted ways. Meyers next wrote and helmed What Women Want (2000), which featured Mel Gibson as a chauvinistic advertising executive who develops the ability to read women’s minds after an accident. While the romantic comedy received mixed reviews, it was popular with moviegoers and cemented Meyers’s position as a major player in Hollywood. She wielded almost total control on her movies, serving as director, writer, and producer—in the early 2000s she formed her own production company, Waverly Films—and she was one of the few directors allowed final cut.

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Meyers’s next effort, Something’s Gotta Give (2003), starred Diane Keaton as a successful middle-aged playwright who finds herself pursued by a much-younger doctor (Keanu Reeves) and a 60ish playboy bachelor (Jack Nicholson). Another hit, the film also received attention for its stylish sets, a trademark of Meyers’s productions. In the crowd-pleaser The Holiday (2006), two women (Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz) switch homes after undergoing painful break-ups and subsequently find new love interests. Meyers then directed It’s Complicated (2009), about a divorced bakery owner (Meryl Streep) who has an affair with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) while beginning a relationship with an architect (Steve Martin). While some derided the film as “middle-aged porn,” others noted that Meyers presented characters and issues often absent in Hollywood movies. In The Intern (2015), Anne Hathaway portrayed the founder of a fashion site, and Robert De Niro was a retired widower who becomes her intern. Meyers later directed the short film Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish), which debuted on Netflix in 2020; made during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus was incorporated into the story line.

Meyers produced the romantic comedy Home Again (2017), which was written and directed by her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer.