A couple of actors met for the filming of the mythical film The Godfather, where they forged a friendship that crossed that border several times, although it never came to fruition.
Before the filming of The Godfather, in the early 1970s, Francis Ford Coppola chose Diane Keaton to play Kay Adams, the girlfriend of young Michael Corleone, son of capo Vito Corleone. For the heir to mafia power, Francis chose Al Pacino. This choice began a relationship that never was, although it cannot be denied either: a kind of paradox that accompanied the history of these two stars.
It happens that the relationship they had with each other as characters transcended the screen and a love story began between them. During the 18 years that the Godfather saga lasted, on and off, Keaton and Pacino shared a friendship that at times morphed into a casual relationship.
Little by little, this bond became deep, especially in the actress, who fell in love with Al, even going so far as to give him a kind of ultimatum regarding the couple "Either you marry me or at least consider the possibility", although the actor, According to Keaton's own statements, he never had that intention.
"I met him at O'Neal's Bar near Lincoln Center in New York when he was a Broadway star. We had been told we had to meet before we started auditioning for the roles of Michael and Kay. I was nervous "What caught my attention the most was his nose and then the hyperkinetic way with which he moved, he also seemed nervous. I don't remember talking about the script, just looking at his extraordinary face," recalls the actress in Then Again, the book autobiographical by Diane Keaton.
Even though at the time they met, neither of them were single, the chemistry they developed as they got to know each other was stronger, to the point of being considered by the actress as "the great love of her life." But Pacino never reciprocated the actress' grand gestures, or at least not to the same level. Therefore, given the refusal of the marriage, their relationship continued further and further from the romance they were able to share, especially when Al married Beverly D'Angelo in 1996, in a marriage that would last 7 years.
Keaton, for his part, decided to start a family alone, adopting two sons: Dexter and Duke. Despite having written in the aforementioned book that "Al was never mine. I spent twenty years losing a man I never had, he didn't want to marry: he wanted a way out. After Al, I started building a shell, I put on more hats, T-shirts and long-sleeved shirts, jackets in the summer, boots with socks, and scarves on the beach" Reality has always shown her as a happy person with her lifestyle and decisions.
