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SOMETHING ABOUT HER
From Calgary Sun
Published in December '03 Thanx to Marina
NEW YORK -- Starring in the romantic comedy Something's Gotta Give has Diane Keaton reflecting on men, marriage and motherhood. At 57, Keaton is still single though she has adopted two children, daughter Dexter, 8, and son Duke, 3. Her former lovers have included Woody Allen, Al Pacino and Warren Beatty. In Something's Gotta Give, Keaton's middle-aged playwright has given up on love until she meets a notorious wealthy playboy (Jack Nicholson). "I understand why she falls in love. She's found a soul mate and that's so rare you have to act on it at any age," says Keaton, who's not entirely ruling out such a love for herself. "It's not an impossibility, but I don't really see it in my future. There's a certain point in your life when you can't help being obsessed by men and love." Keaton remembers the times when "it was so exciting you couldn't help thinking about men. Even your dreams were about men. You love them. You're excited by them, but I don't feel that way now." She's definitely not distressed. In fact Keaton says "there's a kind of freeing aspect to that, but I still believe in love." In Something's Gotta Give, Keaton's character has a fling with a much younger doctor played by Keanu Reeves. For her, such a scenario is definitely fantasy. "That could never be for me. The older woman and younger man thing is not my bag. Count me out. It could never be. In my books it's pure fantasy." Asked if there's a reason she never married, Keaton puts the blame on herself. "The problem was maybe I wasn't right. I wasn't really prepared to be a reasonable person." She feels being a mother "is the most humbling experience I've ever had ... I've always been a horribly demanding person. I've always insisted that men think I'm engaging and that's just deadly in a relationship. With children you really have to be your best possible self ... I don't think I was as honest with my lovers as I've had to be with my children." Keaton is an outspoken critic of Hollywood's obsession with perfection that has driven so many of her contemporaries to resort to plastic surgery. "I haven't had surgery because I think someone has to represent all those women out there who don't resort to it. Hollywood doesn't allow women to age naturally and gracefully. Today I'm against it but I'm also afraid to say too much because, watch, in five or so years I might go under the knife. Sometimes I don't trust my own pronouncements." The National Board of Review named Keaton the year's best actress for her performance in Something's Gotta Give. She won her Oscar in 1978 for Annie Hall. "I didn't believe back then they'd give an Oscar for a comic performance but that night made me a believer. I was shocked when they called my name because it was very peculiar. I didn't think there was a chance in hell that I could win for a comic performance. I was up against some really heavy hitters like Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft so it just didn't seem right but it was great, really, really great." Keaton says she has finally got her Oscar back from her mother "who's had it since that night. I got it back a couple of years ago and now it's on a shelf in one of the rooms in my house." by Louis B. Hobson |
