Diane Keaton’s Most Memorable Roles: ‘The Godfather,’ More

Diane Keaton has been captivating viewers since the 1970s — and she shows no signs of stopping.

Following her theatrical debut in the original 1968 production of Broadway’s Hair, Keaton turned to film. Her first role was in 1970’s Lovers and Other Strangers, two years before she got her big break in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

“I always thought I was the most outsider, weird person in the movie, and ‘Why was I cast in it?’ and I had no voice,” Keaton said of her character, Kay Adams, while celebrating the original movie’s 45th anniversary at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. “But then I had a couple of good scenes with Al [Pacino].”

At the time, the Oscar winner confessed that she hadn’t seen the iconic mafia movie in nearly three decades. “I saw it on my computer. I hadn’t seen it for I think about 30 years,” she said. “And … I just remember all the people, I couldn’t handle it, it was so astonishing, it was so beautiful, and everybody is so great in it, and the music, and every choice [Coppola] made.”

Keaton went on to appear in the franchise’s 1974 sequel and 1990 follow-up. While her dramatic turns are award-worthy, fans also love the Then Again author’s comedic timing in Annie Hall, Father of the Bride, The Family Stone and more.

“Diane, of course, she was kind of our leader on the movie,” Family Stone costar Luke Wilson exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2021. “She would never say that but everyone was so admiring of her.”

Scroll down for a look back at Keaton’s most memorable roles through the years: