The Godfather's Diane Keaton confessed they committed 'Hollywood sin' before audition

Diane Keaton played the calm, collected and “vanilla” character of Kay in The Godfather. Although most actors spent a lot of time preparing for a role they’re auditioning for, Keaton didn’t even read the book.

The Godfather, a cult classic for many Hollywood fans, follows Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel about the Italian-American Mafia in America. It starts with Don Vito Corleone, an Italian immigrant who fled to the US after his family were killed by a mafia boss in Sicily. He manages to escape poverty for his young family and after taking down a mean gangster starts his own ‘family’. In the first movie, we see the harsh dynamics of what running a mafia business can create in a family, as well as the deadly consequences of simply walking in the street to buy from the local grocer. Diane Keaton plays Kay in The Godfather series, who is youngest son, Michael Corleone’s wife.

The Godfather is still quoted today

The franchise, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, released the first movie in 1972. It was the first adaptation of the series of books by the author. The second came just two years later after the success of the initial flick. However, the third in the franchise came a long 16 years afterward, and has often been hailed as the worst in the series for a number of reasons.

The story of The Godfather has cemented itself into pop history. It’s heavily quoted – “You come to me on the day my daughter is to be married”, springs to mind – and has shocking scenes movie fans won’t try to scrub out of their head any time. From Sonny (played by James Caan) meeting his gory death after hundreds of bullets, to Don Corleone dropping the oranges he buys from a grocer after he’s shot.

It’s hard to dismiss the masterpiece.

However, you would think that casting such an epic tale would mean The Godfather crew were meticulous in the auditioning phase – but Diane Keaton doesn’t say so.

The star admitted she auditioned without “having ever read” the book. In Hollywood, that could be classed as the worst sin imaginable. Budding actors spend a lot of time prepping for a role. Either understanding the character, reading lines and everything in between to impress the casting director.

Luckily, it didn’t affect Diane Keaton nabbing the part of Kay Adams in The Godfather.

Diane Keaton’s role in The Godfather was the ‘kindest thing’ someone’s ever done for her

“I think the kindest thing that someone’s ever done for me … is that I got cast to be in The Godfather and I didn’t even read it. I didn’t know a single thing,” the Academy Awards show winner told People.

She continued: “I just was going around auditioning. I think that was amazing for me. And then I had to kind of read the book.”

Diane Keaton stars opposite Al Pacino in The Godfather, playing his wife.

The celebrity added: “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.”

But not only that, she was even chosen for the part before they snapped up Al Pacino

“So I was there and so he had me come back and then he cast me and then Al Pacino.”

They didn’t even want Al Pacino

It’s hard to imagine The Godfather without stone-faced Al Pacino. But Diane Keaton says the studio weren’t even interested in the Scarface actor. It was only after a reading between the two actors that piqued their interest.

She explained: “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.”

SyncX