The 1996 role Diane Keaton didn’t mind begging for: “I don’t really care”

Diane Keaton said she was willing to push hard for the role of Bessie in the 1996 drama *Marvin’s Room*, even risking seeming “beggy”, because she cared more about getting the part than how she secured it. The role placed her alongside Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio and brought her a third Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Keaton told the *Deseret News* that some of her earlier roles, including *Annie Hall* and *Reds*, came without auditions, while she had to work with the casting director to land Bessie. In the film, Bessie’s estranged sister returns with her teenage son to see whether either can provide a bone-marrow transplant. The article also notes Keaton’s later fourth Oscar nomination for *Something’s Gotta Give*.