Parker looked back on working with Keaton, who died in October, in the CNN special “The First Christmas Without Diane.”

Sarah Jessica Parker details nerve-racking Family Stone scene with late Diane Keaton: ‘It was scary’

Parker looked back on working with Keaton, who died in October, in the CNN special "The First Christmas Without Diane."

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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December 21, 2025 7:00 a.m. ET

Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, and Diane Keaton in 'The Family Stone'. Credit:

Zade Rosenthal/20th Century Fox

Sarah Jessica Parker will never forget the day she got to cross swords with Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress who died in October at 79.

In the recent CNN special *The First Christmas Without Diane*, Parker looked back on filming a key scene with Keaton in the holiday dramedy *The Family Stone*. "In theory, it was it was scary," Parker said of the scene, which comes at the film's emotional conclusion. "I was very nervous about it."

Released in 2005, the movie follows Keaton's Sybil as her titular family gathers for what might be their final Christmas together. Things are further complicated when the eldest Stone son, played by Dermot Mulroney, brings his high-strung girlfriend, Meredith (Parker), home to meet the family, and the matriarch later reveals to everyone that her breast cancer has metastasized.

In Parker's nerve-racking scene, her character gives gifts to each member of the Stone clan in an effort to mend fences with them, and Keaton's signature wit is on full display. "I did feel like [Keaton] was a real combatant, like we were in proper swordplay," Parker recalled, "and that I had to be both capable of that but also not win."

Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton. and Sarah Jessica Parker in 'The Family Stone'.

ZADE ROSENTHAL/Fox

Parker added that such moments gave her an up-close chance to "watch [Keaton] work and to see how she puts it all together." This, in turn, aided her own performance in the film: "Really just listening to Diane and responding, given the story, was my best approach, and I loved it."

Another distinct recollection she had of working with Keaton involved the Oscar winner's penchant for asking her costars really personal things, or as she put it, "typically not questions that somebody would ask another person."

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“She liked asking very personal questions," Parker explained of Keaton, including "everything from money to, like, really funny, provocative" topics that Parker admitted she felt compelled to "involuntarily answer."**

"I think it was simply because she was so interested in people," the *Sex and the City* star told the outlet. "She loved knowing odd facts about people and, I guess, what makes a person an individual was very interesting to her."

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Seemingly in honor of this, Parker shared a tidbit about Keaton: She "was the first person I ever saw put ice cubes into a pinot noir. Now everybody puts their pinot noir in the fridge. So of course, typically as usual, she knew something before everybody else."

Keaton died from pneumonia Oct. 11, prompting an outpouring of grief from fans and fellow stars. Her family members said in a statement that they were "very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support they have received these past few days on behalf of their beloved Diane."**

Last month, *Family Stone* director Thomas Bezucha revealed that he's working on a sequel. He added that he feels compelled to "do a good job by the rest of the cast" and wants to "honor [Keaton] even more" in the wake of her death.**

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