Francis Ford Coppola pays emotional tribute to ‘The Godfather’ star Diane Keaton: “Creativity personified’
Director Francis Ford Coppola has paid tribute to the late Diane Keaton, who starred in his iconic movie series, The Godfather.
Keaton’s death was confirmed by a family spokesperson on October 11th, who revealed she had died in California aged 79. No cause of death was revealed.
Keaton, who was born in 1949 in Los Angeles, had her breakthrough in 1969 when she starred in Woody Allen’s production of Play It Again, Sam on Broadway, which was also turned into a feature film. It was also around this time that Coppola became aware of her talents.
He had seen her in the production of Hair, and when it came to casting for the role of Kay Adams Corleone, the wife of Michael Corleone, Keaton was the top name on Coppola’s list. She later returned to the role for The Godfather II in 1974 and The Godfather III in 1990.
Following her death, Coppola took to Instagram to write: “Words can’t express the wonder and talent of Diane Keaton. Endlessly intelligent, so beautiful. From her earliest performances in Hair and throughout her amazing career, she was an extraordinary actor.”
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He reflected further, writing, “I saw her in the film Lovers and Other Strangers and knew I had to have her play Kay in The Godfather, (which she told me she based on my wife Ellie) and her wonderful work in Annie Hall while simultaneously setting a new fashion trend.”
The director concluded by sharing from the heart, “Everything about Diane was creativity personified.”
Despite The Godfather being based on a best-selling novel that spent 67 weeks at the top of the New York Times, Keaton was not familiar with the story before reading the script. She later said to AARP, “I didn’t even know what The Godfather was. Someone said to me, ‘You’ve got to go and audition for things,’ so I auditioned for the film, and I got the role of Kay Corleone.”
In 2023, Coppola held an ‘Ask Me Anything’ Q&A with his followers on Instagram, which gave Keaton an opportunity to ask him “why on earth” he wanted her for The Godfather.
The director responded by telling Keaton: “I chose you, because although you were to play the more straight/vanilla wife, there was something more about you, deeper, funnier, and very interesting. (I was right).”
Aside from her performances in The Godfather series, Keaton won the Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’ thanks to her performance in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall in 1977. She was also nominated in the same category on a further three occasions for Reds, Marvin’s Room, and Something’s Gotta Give.
Goldie Hawn, who starred alongside Keaton in The First Wives Club, wrote on Instragram, “Hawn later wrote herself on social media, “Diane, we aren’t ready to lose you”. She continued by noting how Keaton “never liked praise, so humble, but now you can’t tell me to ‘shut up’ honey. There was, and will be, no one like you. … I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred alongside Keaton in the gripping 1996 drama Marvin’s Room, said of his one-time co-star, “Diane Keaton was one of a kind. Brilliant, funny and unapologetically herself. A legend, an icon and a truly kind human being.”
Additionally, Jane Fonda recalled how Keaton 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 world view.”
Fonda added, “Unique is what she was. And, though she didn’t know it or wouldn’t admit it, man she was a fine actress!”
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