Diane: I've always fancied Jack

'Being in love was really exciting and it's very easy to find yourself in love with a man,' she says.

'But it's terrifying because it's so unrealistic and it's so devastating when it doesn't live up to all of those ridiculous fantasies we have. I've suffered from that problem, like a lot of women.'

The one thing she is proud of, however, is the manner in which her relationships have ended.

'I think our partings have been decent and I'm proud of that. They could have said anything they wanted about me but they didn't.

'I'm sure they've felt, all of them, "What a jerk she is" or "She's too much trouble", but it's a mutually agreed-upon deal. I respect them, so it's tit-for-tat. You've got to be honourable.'

is no man in her life now unless you count her three-yearold adopted son Duke. He is her second adopted child - she is also the mother of eight-year-old daughter Dexter, whom she adopted at ten months old.

For although she had enjoyed three decades of success and critical acclaim, it was only when Keaton was approaching her 50s that she realised something in her life was missing.

She has travelled with both of her children to Berlin, but admits she has had less time to spend with them here than she'd hoped.

'I thought adopting children at a late age would be better because there would be a lot less attention on me,' she says. 'You know, the career wouldn't exist that much, but .. . wow!'

She tails off, looking bewildered. It seems that even Diane Keaton cannot believe how, at 58, she has been hurled back into the top tier, with an Oscar nomination to boot.

But then, Keaton is as sexy, funny and poignant as ever - and still has the ability to steal a scene nearly three decades after she won a best actress Oscar for her role as Annie Hall.

'It feels great but it feels different this time around,' she says of her nomination. 'It's crazy to be an actress today. You have to be nuts.

'I see the big movie stars like Nicole (Kidman) and I think: "Oh, they must be really exhausted." The stuff they have to do! The clothes, the hair, everything. They have to put themselves through hoops.

'Someone said to me when I did Annie Hall: "Don't ever change." To me, that's like slitting your throat. You've got to change and let go. It's too hard to stay up there in the limelight all the time.'

She's had many other hits over the years - Manhattan, the landmark Godfather films, First Wives Club and the successful comedies Baby Boom and the Father Of The Bride series.

But she's realistic about how brutal the Hollywood system is when it comes to 'mature' actresses. 'There are only about 20 of us in our 50s - Susan Sarandon and Helen Mirren are two - who get the parts.

'Directors are not going to give parts to an unknown actress in her 50s who's every bit as good as the rest of us, but who didn't make it by the time she was 30.

'I was chosen because of Woody all those years ago. I was one of the lucky ones.'

She's pleased that her daughter, so far, has shown little interest in following her mother's footsteps. 'But I hope she's competitive,' she admits. 'I was competitive with my mother. I wanted to do more than her.

'I remember my mother was crowned Mrs Highland Park (the part of southern California where Keaton was raised) and went on to become Mrs Los Angeles and then she became the finalist of Mrs California.

'I was nine when she won that and when she was on stage being presented with all these gifts, I remember thinking: "I want this. I'm going to be on that stage."'

It was also her mother, she believes, who allowed her acting talents to develop.

'My mother was a great audience. I tried to entertain her a lot. I was one of four - two sisters and a brother - and I was the eldest, the most ambitious, and I had to vie for attention and I really, really worked it.

'I loved her and she was a great listener and that's the thing about acting and comedy, you have to know how to listen.

'Although if I am funny, I don't know why. I don't know how to tell a joke. I remember, in the early years, Woody Allen would always write a joke and take it away from me because I could never deliver it.'

DEPRECATING as ever, Keaton also plays down the most talkedabout part of her new film - her nude love scene with Jack Nicholson - remarkable not least for the fact that it is her first in 25 years.

'I wouldn't want to do a movie where I'm naked a lot!' she says. 'I only look fabulous in the scene because it was directed by a woman.'

But no amount of modesty can hide the fact that, approaching 60, Diane Keaton looks fantastic.

Lightly tinted glasses may shield her eyes from the light and there are thin lines etched around her lips, but in an age of bland cosmetic uniformity, her appeal is as individual and timeless as ever.

'I'm all nature,' she insists. 'I think that, in a professional way, cosmetic surgery might help some people and a lot of people have a lot of work done. But in a personal way, I don't think it makes men love you more.

'You may feel better and these days nobody raises much of an eyebrow, but it's not for me,' she firmly declares.

That's why Diane Keaton will always be a Hollywood original.