Diane Keaton is sharing how she really felt while on set of “The Godfather.”
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Keaton reflected on her over 50 years in the industry, revealing why she feels anxious when she steps onto a set, especially when she was making “The Godfather.”
“I was terrified. I didn’t understand why me. I mean, I went up to the audition. I didn’t even really — I hadn’t read it. See, this is bad! But I needed a job, so I got up there,” the actress explained. “I’d been auditioning around for about a year, and then this happened like that. And I kept thinking, “Why me? Why would he cast me?” I didn’t understand it. I still don’t, really.”
Keaton was unsure she was the right person for the role, explaining she saw herself as “more of a comedy-type person,” and that anytime she works with amazing actors she begins to second guess herself. She admits to worrying at the beginning of every project, thinking, “How will this match that …? Can I do …? What am I …? Oh, dear.”
Diane Keaton didn’t think she was right for the role she played in “The Godfather,” saying she saw herself more in comedies. (FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)
DIANE KEATON SAYS IT’S ‘HIGHLY UNLIKELY’ SHE’LL EVER DATE AGAIN
The actress went on to explain that the director of a project is just as important as who your co-stars are, saying she never brought her anxieties up with helmer Francis Ford Coppola while filming the movie.
“I never really had a palsy friendship with our director. He was nice,” Keaton said. “When he was working, he would say, if he didn’t like something, he’d tell me, ‘Try this.’ That was it! It wasn’t what I thought it would be. I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m trouble. I shouldn’t be here.'”
Since then, Keaton has realized the nervous energy she feels at the start of every project is just part of her process and whether it goes away with time or not, she’s okay with it.
When working with Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler on “The First Wives Club,” Keaton admitted to “feeling always kind of anxious and a little worried.”
Keaton admitted to feeling nervous while on set of “First Wives Club” because she was acting alongside Goldie Hawn, center, and Bette Midler. (Getty Images)
“Because they are really amazing actresses! You know, I didn’t really know them. But that changed over time — like life does,” she said. “I was very fortunate, and it was great to watch them work because they both work differently from each other, and I worked my own odd way. Not that theirs is odd. Mine is odd.”
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Keaton will next appear in “Book Club: The Next Chapter,” alongside Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. The movie is a sequel to the 2018 film “Book Club,” which followed the foursome as they read “50 Shades of Grey” together and were inspired to live their lives to the fullest.
In the followup, the group turn their book club into an international affair, traveling to Italy to celebrate Fonda’s character’s bachelorette party, and, of course, things go wrong along the way. When speaking about her co-stars, Keaton said “each one is a unique, amazing character.”
“Mary Steenburgen is the kindest mother of them all. She’s really a great actress, and she’s so there for everyone. You just lay eyes on her, and you feel like you’re being helped,” she said. “And then, of course, there’s Jane, who is always Jane. What life is that like? She’s brilliant, and she’s had this brilliant life, and she continues on. Then there is Candice, who is by far the funniest. She is a character among all of us, hilarious and straightforward.”
Keaton will next appear in “Book Club: The Next Chapter,” alongside, from left, Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda and Candice Bergen. (Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
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“Book Club: The Next Chapter” is set to premiere in theaters May 12.