Diane Lane: In Sunny Italy

She was a child actress and has only recently come into the film success she always deserved. You might remember her from The Perfect Storm or the steamy Unfaithful. In Under the Tuscan Sun, gorgeous Diane Lane finds love with studly Italian Raoul Bova . In real life she is hooked up with hot-looking Josh Brolin whom she'll marry in the Spring and joins Demi Moore in a recent poll as the "older woman" teen guys would most like to hook up with!

In person, we found the actress to be very "real", warm and friendly in casual jeans, sweater and wearing little jewelry. Her personal life with daughter and her guy Josh obviously takes top billing with the talented actress. Even spending time in gorgeous Tuscany while shooting the film didn't make up for missing her loved-ones.

TeenHollywood: What was the biggest appeal for you to do this role? Story? Location? Director?

Diane: Everybody likes to joke and say it's the location. It was actually very hard and sad for me to be away from home for three months any way you slice it because my daughter was starting fourth grade, I'd just started a relationship (with Josh), and the last thing I wanted to do was be in the most romantic place in the world and missing everybody. It wasn't a plus for me to be that far away. I was a villainess in Unfaithful and this movie was more of an encouraging tale. This was a breath of fresh air.

TeenHollywood: Your character in the film has to notice a lot of omens and signs in her life. Do you?

Diane: Definitely. I'll see things once a week. I think they're there and you have to let go and let God. I know that sounds corny, but there's actually a book called that or something. That's my character's dilemma. It's funny because as we try to force our own hand when the cards are dealt and swap our cards out and get a better hand, sometimes we're not the best person to be playing God in our own lives. Getting comfortable with awkward times is for me the key to get to something more desirable.

TeenHollywood: Is Tuscan Sun going to be a movie for guys at all?

Diane: Hey, they'll get a nice date and a happy woman. That's no small thing. I really liked the fact that you get to see different versions of men through the perspective of the woman. We have a loyal husband who could have taken advantage of my character's emotional insecurity but didn't. We have the guys who are available in that fabulously forward Italian way. It's not an exclusive film in the sense of being a chick flick which a lot of films are. I think it's about appreciating men and wanting more of them, not less of them. [For teens] You also have the Romeo character, this young boy saying 'I can do it and win the father of my beloved's trust by proving I'm as macho as these Italian men who I have to contend with for my future girlfriend'.

TeenHollywood: This is a very romantic film. Do you feel like a romantic?

Diane: It's scary but true. Very much so. I crave it and I look for it so I find it. It's out there to be found. There have been times in my life when I was I was really resentful of all things romantic because it wasn't what I was going through at the time. I didn't want to hear how happy everybody was. Now, I'm a romantic; I'm happy.

TeenHollywood: Speaking of romance, could Josh not make it over to Tuscany?

Diane: He came twice. But he was filming Mr. Sterling at the time. And sort of parenting upstate with his daughter and L.A. with my daughter. In my absence, it was this guilt-ridden time for me. He was basically being the knight in shining armor and getting it all done and I knew when I got home, I'd have to make up for it. I came home nine days before Christmas. No pressure. You hit the ground running with jet-lag. I would have loved to have prepared for a month. But Christmas doesn't wait and it's a bigger family now.

TeenHollywood: How old is your daughter?

Diane: She just turned 10. I'm in denial. See how long it took me to think of that. Two digits!

TeenHollywood: Does she have any interest in being an actress?

Diane: I don't think so. I think every girl does but not any moreso because of me. I've tried to give her a realistic appreciation of things. She's a writer; that's her main proclivity.

TeenHollywood: What kind of role would you love to play?

Diane: I'd like to play a real irreverent bitch. Somebody who doesn't care about being popular or sympathetic. The evil queen or something like that. It would be fun. Bad guy thing.

TeenHollywood: Has your life changed since the Academy Award nomination for Unfaithful?

Diane: Not really. I don't think so. In the grocery store checkout line I'm standing there as long as anybody else and they go 'Hey, you look like Diane Lane'. 'I know I get that a lot'. That's my comeback.

TeenHollywood: There is a lot of humor in Tuscan Sun. Do you like doing comedy?

Diane: I'd love to be funny. It would be desirable to be funny and get paid for it. They say it's one of the hardest things. There was ample opportunity for some comedy in this film. I'd love to see the movie with a real audience then I could hear the responses. I'll have to sneak in one of those one day.

TeenHollywood: There are also some scenes where your character is really shattered. How hard is it to get to that place?

Diane: You read a script and see the moments where you fill it in emotionally. One time, I read the script and it didn't specify that she'd been crying and I got to the set and they said, you know she has to cry. I said, 'no, but let me go in my trailer and I'll flog myself'. I have to look at those scenes and figure out what the director's want in advance.

TeenHollywood: Okay, girl, spill. We hear you're a big shoe shopaholic.

Diane: Here's the deal, I remember going to sleep in my mother's closet because it was a cool place to sleep on the floor. When you're little, things seem huge and she had shoes from the floor to the ceiling. It was like a walk in closet in NYC and I'd loved the smell of leather from her shoes. I developed a thing for it. 'When I grow up I'll have shoes too'. I'm guilty of that but my mom had more than me. I had this one pair of shoes for so long they didn't fit anymore. They had peacock feathers on the heels. It was so 80s. I gave them all away. When you carry a child, your feet grow, so I gave them away to my friends with small feet.

TeenHollywood: Did you have any embarrassing moments as a child actor?

Diane: Well, I fell asleep backstage and missed my cue. But I was nine. I was supposed to get on stage and get shot. So when they fired at the air and mourned a body that wasn't there and all this stuff, I'm standing in the wings going, "Oh, my God." So I hid in the closet and pulled all this stuff behind me so they'd think I'd run away or something terrible had happened to me, rather than she simply fell asleep by the heater in winter.

TeenHollywood: A lot of wedding plans seem to be falling through lately. What are your wedding plans with Josh?

Diane: Spring. That's all we know. It's hard. We have three kids between us and two careers and two locations.

TeenHollywood: How do you keep your personal life out of the spotlight?

Diane: Choices that you make about how and where to do things. To seek attention or try to avoid it. Two different ways of living.

TeenHollywood: Is there a love scene you cherish?

Diane: I do, I do. Actually, it's Kelly McGillis and Tom Cruise in Top Gun. I thought that was pretty hot. Oh, and The Big Easy with Dennis Quaid.

TeenHollywood: Teens can eat a lot of snack food. Was it different in Italy?

Diane: The funny thing is, in Italy they don't snack. Americans are like Pac Man. We just eat our way through the day. There's always something going into the mouth. And in Italy, they will sit down and have a three hour, five course food fest. And they'll talk about the meaning of life and what's going on with our government and politics and everything. So, they sit there and have this big cultural bonding fest over food and all this time is spent preparing the food. It's a big part of life. And for us, it's drive-throughs and eating standing up and trying to even ignore the fact that you're chewing and swallowing food while you stay talking. It's just we don't stop and really appreciate that. For some reason, they don't gain weight, but they also don't eat for the five hours between meals.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.