Diane Keaton Admits She Never Read ‘The Godfather’ Before Auditioning: ‘I Needed to Get Work’

Diane Keaton Admits She Never Read ‘The Godfather’ Before Auditioning: ‘I Needed to Get Work’

“I just was going around auditioning,” Diane Keaton told PEOPLE of landing her role in The Godfather during her Hand & Footprint Ceremony Thursday at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre
She played Kay Adams-Corleone, the wife of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 film adaptation of Mario Puzo’s novel, later reprising the role in the 1974 and 1990 sequels.

“I think about how lucky I am. That’s what I think. And the way I think about things, like I auditioned for The Godfather, not having ever read The Godfather or caring about The Godfather or anything, because all I was doing was auditioning. I needed to get work,” she explained. “So I was there and so he had me come back and then he cast me and then Al Pacino.”
Keaton also raved about working opposite Pacino, 82, noting that “the studio didn’t want Al Pacino at all” and only cast him after the pair had a chemistry reading together.

“So he brought Al Pacino in and we did it together and for some reason that helped them cast him. Can you imagine if [they] hadn’t cast him? So a lot of these experiences that you have come and you’re just surprised, like today, this was a surprise. This is [a] complete, utter surprise to me,” Keaton added.

The Annie Hall star was supported by friends and family at Thursday’s ceremony, including her daughter Dexter Keaton, 27, and 22-year-old son Duke Keaton, as well as her younger sister Dorrie Hall.
“It was just one of those things in your life where you just don’t expect it and then suddenly it comes your way. And then it’s like, wow,” Keaton said of the ceremony. “I was thrilled, of course. And I still am. And to be here today is also great because I’m not frequently inside this theater and I love this theater.”

Keaton’s latest movie Mack & Rita is currently in theaters.