Gorgeous At Any Age: Diane Lane
DIANE LANE: Twenty-three. I met him at 19. I gave him my twenties; I didn't know what else to do with them.
GLAMOUR: You have teenage daughters. Would you tell them to postpone marriage until after a career?
DIANE LANE: That's hard to say…. I bought into the myth that you are not complete without romantic love, without a mate. And it can really distract you from your goals. But sometimes you have to take a leap.
GLAMOUR: When did you feel like you knew who the real you was?
DIANE LANE: Probably the end of my thirties. That rocket launcher of youth had passed, and I was on my own real engine power.
GLAMOUR: How much do you value fortysomething experience over twentysomething adventure?
DIANE LANE: I wouldn't go back to being 20. Because here's the thing…there is something wonderful about coming to terms with time—that it is finite. You want to have as much joy in your life as possible, and you take responsibility for your own joy.
GLAMOUR: What is your anti-aging secret?
DIANE LANE: It's become sleep. It used to be other things, but sleep is the great equalizer.
GLAMOUR: In Nights in Rodanthe, you play a newly separated woman.
DIANE LANE: Yes, my husband cheats on me and leaves me for another woman.
GLAMOUR: It's still considered very immoral to be unfaithful. Infidelity seems to be a deal breaker for most marriages.
DIANE LANE: Well, in my book of rules it is. I don't mind going on record to say that.
GLAMOUR: You fall in love with Richard Gere's character and write love letters to each other. No one does that anymore. Do you have a box of old letters?
DIANE LANE: I do. But they are e-mails I printed.
GLAMOUR: Well, e-mail is a great way to get back to writing love letters.
DIANE LANE: Yes, but I don't know how people ever meet online. I mean, I love the idea. But I wonder if Josh and I would have gotten together if we had filled out one of those questionnaires about your personality.
GLAMOUR: I think people lie on them a bit.
DIANE LANE: But see that's the thing. I wouldn't lie. I would never stuff my bra because it's going to come off and the truth is going to be revealed. No, no, no. I don't like that padding. [Laughs.] I try to be completely—if not brutally—honest.
GLAMOUR: Is it harder to find love a second time around?
DIANE LANE: No. But I think it has to find you. [After my divorce] I was very content to have long-distance relationships. You know, something to be excited about, but something that wasn't so convenient.
GLAMOUR: When you first met Josh again after having met once years before, did you think it was different?
DIANE LANE: I didn't—I was asleep. I thought, nice to meet you again, have a nice evening. My friend with me that night said, "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty."
