It seems like every major name in Hollywood at the time was at one point or another circling Michael Corleone. Beatty, Caan, Redford, Hoffman, Sheen. But we can’t imagine anyone other than Pacino – and we might have Diane Keaton to thank.
As we remember Diane Keaton – who passed away last week at 79 – we go back to a story she told about The Godfather, the film that helped make a star not just of her but so many of the core cast members. As we know, Paramount was against casting Pacino as Corleone at least partly due to his height. But once Pacino got in front of the cameras for a test with Keaton – who had already been signed on to play Kay – they knew they had to relent.
As Keaton told Entertainment Tonight a few years back, “Nobody wanted Al Pacino. They didn’t want him to play that part, and I had already been cast. I had been cast before Al Pacino in Godfather 1! Is this not weird? So I was standing there and they brought him up when I was standing there and we worked together in front of [the producers], and they gave him the job. Do you believe that? After he had auditioned before and they didn’t want him. What would The Godfather have been without Al Pacino? It’s just one of those weird, unusual things in life.” Hey, maybe that’s why he prefers the first to the sequel.
One of the truly underrepresented aspects to The Godfather trilogy is the chemistry between Diane Keaton and Al Pacino, which develops so strongly and organically throughout the films. While Pacino would earn Oscar nominations (in two different categories) for playing Michael Corleone, Keaton was unjustly never recognized for her work as Kay – not by the Academy, not at the Golden Globes, not a single guild. She did earn four Oscar nominations over the course of her career, but I still consider her not picking one up for The Godfather Part II to be one of the biggest snubs ever.
Outside of her actual nominations, which of Diane Keaton’s performances do you think was most deserving of a nod? Give us your pick in the comments section below.
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