Diane Lane: A Career with a View

Lane laughs in my face. "It was riveting," she drolly responds. "Like getting rivets driven into your body. Actually, I spent a lot of time standing behind Danny so that I could stare at him and nobody would know. God forbid that I would become another problem for him on that movie set." She crinkles her face, showing distaste for the inevitable set gossip. "I don't ever want to know who's fucking who. Really, I don't give a shit. But it's always about that. They have networks built on it. Look at E!"

"How did you get along with Stallone?" I ask.

"It was a unique experience," Lane allows, treading gently. "He has his own locomotive tracks that are pre-laid before the pawns enter the game. It is definitely the Stallone Show. I remember the first day, I looked at his shoes and said, 'Yo, Sly, where'd you get those? At a KISS garage sale?' Jodie Foster's corkies in Taxi Driver were nothing compared to his. He began backing himself up and said, 'What are you talking about? These are Judge Dredd's shoes. Haven't you seen the comic book?' I had these ridiculously large boots on also, but his were exceptionally...heavy. Now, I meant this to be a private conversation, but we had mikes on and I didn't realize that people were sitting around hearing it on speakers and headphones," She laughs at the faux pas, adding, "This was my first day working with a mega-star, and I was not about to put myself in the bull's-eye for martyrdom. Fired on day one? When he finally joked back at me, I breathed a big sigh of relief."

Stallone is hardly the first star Lane's dealt with on a movie. "Who's the best leading man you've ever worked with?" I ask. "Robert Duvall and Donald Sutherland," she fires back without having to think. "They both have a level of confidence that assures me we are doing a surefooted thing. I don't tolerate insecurity very well. Working with them, I knew that there would not be changes in the middle of the game due to their doubts. After all, it is the male thing to lead; and it should be, with those extra zeroes on the ends of their paychecks. My attitude is. Get confident, buddy! You can do this at 50 and look cool if you are sexy; I can't."

If Lane didn't look like a teenager and weren't as razory funny as she is, she'd come across as the ultimate tough cookie. As it is, she graduated from her 20s relatively free of illusions about Tinseltown--she's smarter at 30 than many actresses are at a much later age. "Winona Ryder came up to me at a very Hollywood party and said she looked up to me." Lane tells me. "She was really sweet but she made me feel so old. I felt like Ava Gardner or something. But I remember being 24 and looking at a 30 year old and figuring she knew what she was doing."

The realities of being a single mother suddenly hit Lane like a freighter. Eleanor bursts in trailed by her nanny and makes a beeline for Lane's lap. After a session of mother and daughter bonding--which culminates in Eleanor nearly succeeding at unbutton-ing Diane's blouse--the toddler gleefully plays with a siren-blaring fire truck before settling down to a videotape of Snow White. Lane takes a moment to consider the professional changes that have been brought on by motherhood. "I don't want to partake in any more misogyny in the world, playing women as victims or women as bitches," she says. "I have done my share of sexy, if not sexist, roles, but I have become uncomfortable with some things on a purely spiritual level." I ask her for an example and she cites the Single White Female scene during which Jennifer Jason Leigh's character tests the aerodynamics of a puppy. "I love Jennifer Jason Leigh. She's at the top of my generation. But I couldn't do that. I mean, playing a crazy person is fine, but an out-and-out evil person? That said, though, [a role like that] will be coming any minute now, because women are now doing things that are just as heinous as the things men do in movies. They're just as tough, just as cruel, just as horrible. And just as crappy," She purses her lips, then sarcastically exclaims, "Excellent! Meet the challenge! Surpass them!"

Sitting in this fabulous apartment, watching a beautiful sunset, killing a great bottle of wine, I can't help thinking that however wised-up Diane Lane might be, she must still have a romantic streak. Does she have plans to remarry? "I can't imagine why." she tells me. "Marriage is a worthy effort, but I don't sit around pining about anything. I sacrificed a lot of my time and effort and thought for the marriage. I learned a lot, but..." Her voice trails off and she cocks her head toward Eleanor's room, from which Snow White's voice is emanating. "My father told me there always needs to be a dominant and submissive partner or else you can't dance. Maybe I just didn't want to do that dance."

Diane Lane takes a final sip of wine before concluding, "Right now I feel really rich." Then she turns around and enjoys her own view of the Pacific sunset.

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Michael Kaplan interviewed Pamela Anderson Lee in the Jan/Feb '96 issue of Movieline

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