Emmys 2017: 15 movie stars who stole the small screen this year

Diane Keaton in The Young Pope.

10. Diane Keaton

The project: HBO’s The Young Pope

The character: Sister Mary, confidant and mother figure to Lenny Belardo (Jude Law). Sister Mary raised the orphaned Lenny from childhood and is one of the driving forces behind his ascent from abandoned child to Pope Pius XIII.

How she stole the small screen: It’s been quite awhile since Keaton played a dark, serious character. Since the Oscar winner’s recent fare has been mostly fluff — Love the Coopers, The Big Wedding, Morning Glory — it’s a pleasure to see her flex the dramatic muscles she built while making Parts I and II of The Godfather, Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Reds. Plus, Sister Mary serves as a restrained, measured counterpoint to the larger-than-life young pope. You get the sense that Sister Mary is the only person who truly understands Lenny and is the only one able to get through to him. And Keaton’s ability to infuse so much disdain into the words “Your Holiness” is simply amazing.

Her past TV experience: The Young Pope is Keaton’s first regular series, but she’s toplined several TV movies throughout her career, including 2011’s Tilda, 2006’s Surrender, Dorothy, and 1994’s Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight, for which she received an Emmy nod. Fun fact: One of the TV movies saw Keaton play another nun named Sister Mary, the 2001 comedic drama Sister Mary Explains It All. Keaton has also had one-episode arcs on series like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Love, American Style.

Awards recognition: No Emmy nods, but Keaton’s Young Pope performance earned her a nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Drama TV Series at this year’s Monte-Carlo TV Festival.