Keaton on Key Career Moments

Close encounters with Woody, Warren, Meryl and more.

By Johanna Schneller

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With Woody Allen in "Annie Hall" (1977)

"A long time ago, Woody would disparage comedy. More and more now, I think, my god, it’s such a gift. Annie Hall was an effortless movie for me to perform. Ef-fort-less! There was no, I’ve got to live up to this part,’ or expectation from it, at all. It was just [snaps fingers]."

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Photo by: Everett Collection

With Warren Beatty in "Reds" (1981)

"At the train station when I see him is one of my favorite moments I’ve ever performed on film. I tortured Warren. I was enraged at him for forcing me to do it 64 times, and I blasted Bob Dylan on my Walkman so I didn’t have to hear his direction. Suddenly it just came, the moment of seeing him, and forgetting I had done this already. And he was right, it was the last take."

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Photo by: Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

With Meryl Streep in "Marvin’s Room" (1996)

"I’d be playing opposite her, she has those beautiful eyes, and I’d sort of get lost in them. But one day she came up to me, she had just seen the rushes, and she said, Diane, I have to tell you, we both look like shit.’ That’s the moment I realized, she had to worry too, be practical about her career. Light it right, or whatever. Meryl was a big moment for me."

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Photo by: Miramax Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

With Jack Nicholson in "Something’s Gotta Give" (2003)

"That kiss [at the end], it was so meaningful to me. I just grabbed his face in my hands. I wasn’t supposed to do that in that scene-this is Jack Nicholson! But he let me, because that’s the kind of actor he is."

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Photo by: Columbia/Courtesy Everett Collection

On working with Harrison Ford

Keaton costars with Ford in the upcoming comedy Morning Glory, due 2010. "I like the contrast between him and me," she says. "I’m this chirpy thing, and he’s methodical and thoughtful. And he was a regular guy, despite the fact that he earned more money last year than any other actor. I didn’t bring that up to him, but I wanted to. I wanted to say, What’s that like? Can we talk about that, Harrison?’ " For excerpts from Keaton’s cover story in the November issue of MORE, click here