“The Family Stone ”Turns 20 as Fans Mark First Christmas Season Since Diane Keaton's Death
- - “The Family Stone ”Turns 20 as Fans Mark First Christmas Season Since Diane Keaton's Death
Angela AndaloroDecember 16, 2025 at 4:00 AM
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Diane Keaton as Sybil Stone in "The Family Stone" -
Diane Keaton was a standout as family matriarch Sybil in The Family Stone
The 2005 holiday comedy features a poignant performance from Keaton, who brings the heart and emotion through her character
20 years after the film's premiere, 2025 also marks the first Christmas since Keaton's death at 78, giving the film extra weight this holiday season
This year, watching The Family Stone is a whole other holiday journey.
Not only has it been 20 years since the family comedy was first released, but its meaning feels more emotional following the death of Diane Keaton in October.
The movie starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, Elizabeth Reaser, Craig T. Nelson and more in the story of a large but close-knit family that's looking to bring Parker's Meredith into the fold. At the head of the family was Keaton as the family matriarch, Sybil Stone, whose breast cancer diagnosis shakes up their reunion.
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Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, and Sarah Jessica Parker in 'The Family Stone'.
The film is full of hijinks that poke fun at the complexity of family dynamics, while also touching on more serious themes like racism and homophobia. Sybil stands out as a mom of five who has serious ties to her children, all while hiding her heartbreaking secret from them. It's finding out that Sybil's health is once again in peril that lends frenzy to the family, on top of the already-thick tension that bringing newcomers home during the holiday season entails.
Production notes for the film indicate that Keaton fell for the character "because of the many layers to her personality."
"This role allowed me to explore so many – often conflicting – emotions. It was fun playing the character who maintains a semblance of order within the chaos that prevails in her household. Sybil is the glue that holds the family together."
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Diane Keaton as Sybil Stone
Thomas Bezucha, writer and director, as well as producer Michael London, knew they wanted Keaton for the role, explaining, "Our thinking at the time was that, if Diane Keaton played Sybil, we would have an anchor for our story and a magnet for other strong actors."
“Diane Keaton is an icon. This role required a lot from her – it’s a difficult acting challenge. Diane’s performance is at the core of this film, propelling the story and the characters around her," London added.
It's rare for a character who isn't the main character to be the heart and soul of a movie, but Keaton as Sybil does just that. Nothing makes that clearer than the film's heartbreaking ends, which sees the Stones at another Christmas, this time without her.
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Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton as Amy and Sybil
Keaton died on Oct. 11 at age 79 after a bacterial pneumonia infection, per a death certificate. "The Keaton family are very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love and support they have received these past few days on behalf of their beloved Diane," read a statement from her family.
Following Keaton's death, Bezucha told CNN that he’s working on a follow-up to his Christmas classic.
“I’ve been haunted by the loss of Sybil for months now while I worked on it, and so this was a blow on a tender bruise already,” Bezucha, 61, said. “Mentally, I’ve been spending time in that house where I’ve been missing her for a while already.”
The news of the Oscar winner’s passing made it all the more important for Bezucha, he told CNN, to do justice to her memorable work in The Family Stone. With his sequel, he said he wanted to “do a good job by the rest of the cast” and “honor [Keaton] even more.”
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