Diane Keaton Felt Wig She Wore In Godfather Her Worst Hair Experience

Diane Keaton Felt Wig She Wore In Godfather Her Worst Hair Experience

On a recent Today Show Matt Lauer did a special interview with Diane Keaton, one of my own personal favorite movie stars.  He started the interview by showing a clip of Diane in some of her memorable roles including with Kay Adams, the devoted wife in The Godfather with Al Pacino to the neurotic Annie Hall.

The reason why Diane was on the show?  To promote her new memoir "Then Again."

After greeting Matt the always outspoken Diane said "I just saw that clip (as Kay Adams) of me and Al Pacino (The Godfather) and all I could think about was that wig.  I've never seen so much hair on my head.  I'll never forget.  It felt like 10 pounds.  It was the worst experience (wearing that wig).

Diane's Memoir

Matt said "you write about Pacino in your book" and she said "oh my god, wasn't he beautiful?"

Matt told Diane how much he loved her and Diane, looking sharp in a short volume enhanced bob teased him about liking older women.  It was a cute exchange.  Matt also expressed surprise Diane had published a memoir because she has always been a very private person, someone out of the limelight in all things personal.

Diane's Mother's Words

When asked if it was hard to write the book Diane said "no, no, no, no, no, no, it's wasn't hard.  It was basically a giant collage.  You see, I had a lot of information.  I had my mother's words.  She wrote 85 journals over the course of her adult life.  So really it was an editing job.  And I wrote journals too.  We were kinda kindred spirits in many ways.  And I had my father's words and my Grandmother Hall's words...who was quite a character, my father's mother."

Even though the book was a memoir about Diane's life, she realized very early on that it had to tell the story of her mom's life.

Diane agreed "it had the tell the story of how our life was kinda lived which was bits and pieces, saved here and there.  I put it all together and I compared our two lives.  The same dreams, we kinda shared the same dreams.  Except my story is the story of a girl whose dreams came true because of her mother.  Dorothy, Dorothy Hall."

Her mother, Dorothy Hall passed away in 2008 of Alzheimers.  Diane said about her mom "she was fabulous and she was this great listener."

Diane said "I think about how the times I rushed to get home from school so I could sit across from her at the kitchen counter and she would hear my sob stories.  She was just highly evolved in that regard because she kinda taught me to think  by letting me roam through thoughts and it was kinda a precursor to, you know, analysis later."

Something's Gotta Give

Matt said in the book Diane writes a lot about her life and a lot about her career.   In the book Diane reports that "Something's Gotta Give" as her most favorite acting role with co-star Jack Nicholson.  Diane said it's one of her favorite movies.

When Matt asked why Diane said "figure it out.  Figure it out.  Pretend that you're a women, pretend that you're a woman who's 57.  And you know, it's kinda over, in terms of a romantic comedy.  OK, so then, guess what?  It happens.  And then guess what?  Here comes Jack Nicholson."

Matt quoted what Diane said in her book about the kiss she got from Nicholson during the filming of the movie.  In the book Diane said that the kiss from Nicholson "gave me  the rush of a first time love over and over again."  Diane said "it did."

Diane says in her book about the filming of "Something's Gotta Give" that "it wasn't the script, it was Jack and Jack can't be explained.

Diane said "no, no, no, you don't understand, you're not a girl.  Look, you get this thing, these movies where you're get to kiss all these men.  It couldn't be more heaven.  Because of course he has to follow the script when he's looking at you and pretend that he loves you, even though he desn't. And you have to pretend you love him.   But for me, it frequently became I would love them.  All of the guys that I got to kiss, but Jack Nicholson especially, because there's just nobody kinda like him.  And especially because, you know,  Jack Nicholson, probably and normally in life probably wouldn't want to be kissing me at age 57."

Diane says Warren Beatty taught her a lot and her time with him was very exciting.  Diane said she never talked to her mom about her relationship with Warren Beatty "because it was too embarrassing to be aware of the fact that I had a crush on a movie star and I didn't want her to know that I  had those kinda kissing feelings for him.  You get my drift?"

Matt pointed out that Diane mentions several times in the book of being scared.  She said "I'm scared now."

She told Matt after Annie Hall it was scary because she always felt kinda safe with her mom and dad but her dream had come true (of being a big movie star) and everything changed and she wasn't sure she was capable of handling it all.