Divorced for eight months, Sarah's family thinks it's time she get back on the horse. But since Sarah's not ready, her sisters and dad decide to take matters into their own hands and launch her back into the dating scene via an Internet dating service.
On the Audience Having to Accept Diane Lane Can’t Get a Date: It’s hard to believe Diane Lane would have any trouble getting a man. Lane said, “That’s what I tried to tell them but they wouldn’t listen to me. Well, suspend [belief] for two hours in the dark (laughing). Thank you for the compliment. I don’t know what to say. Hopefully I was playing a character that was different enough from myself.
I wouldn’t have the nerve to do what she did, which is to reach out and try to get a date, or even allow myself to be forced into it. I would not be so nice with my sister. No. I don’t think so. But it was an intervention so that’s the whole point of intervention is it’s not your will anymore. It’s the will of everybody around you.”
Diane Lane on How “Must Love Dogs’” Might Affect the Stigma of Internet Dating: “I think it will limber it up a bit. It sounds like a great idea. Of course it’s great fodder for comedy. But I think it’s a great idea to at least eliminate some of the potential mishaps or minimize them. You don’t want to find out after a massive investment and falling head over heels on a superficial level, that there’s some beliefs or things that… You know what I mean? It could be really disappointing and I think that would keep people from dating. And this is going to encourage people to take a step forward.”
Ever Consider Internet Dating?: “Absolutely not. I was terrified. No. Actually it never even entered my mind because I was single by choice. I wasn’t trying to date. I was very busy, being a single working mom.”
Diane Lane on Being in Every Scene in “Must Love Dogs:” “It was... Let’s put it this way, I napped every lunch and writer/director Gary David Goldberg] didn’t. You burn a lot of energy being number one on the call sheet. …I would not have wanted to have that much responsibility before because you need your strength and you need stamina and you have to pace yourself. And there’s a lot of apologizing to your family because you’re exhausted.”
Diane Lane on John Cusack and What He Brings to the Romantic Comedy Genre: “Well, a lot of rewrites. (Laughs) He contributed a lot to his character and his character’s dialogue and a freedom and a levity and a sense of confidence about what works for him, which is a huge gift. It’s a great gift to our movie because Gary trusted him as a comedian. He’s got such a wonderful sense of timing and he’s just confident on camera in that way.
I remember talking with him and he’s going, ‘Come on, Lane. You take that line and I’ll do this.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Nope. It’s not scripted. I’m not saying it.’ I don’t feel that confidence. I start blushing profusely and I get all sweaty and, I don’t know. Old school. I could never. Even on ‘Saturday Night Live’ I’d be one of those people who’s always looking at the words.”
Diane Lane and the Dog: Lane said she got along with Molly and Mable, the dogs who play ‘Mother Theresa’ in the film. Lane explained, “Like with kids, they prefer hiring twins. I have a dog now. I got a dog since the movie. I had to get a dog. I couldn’t make any more excuses to my daughter. I’ve been the mom in ‘My Dog Skip’ and this experience with the dogs…
On Her Criteria for Choosing a Part: “Well I think, selfishly, I’m affected by what I have done last. I want it to be something different than I’ve done recently. That’s the main dictation for me, selfishly. It really has to do with who I’m working with I think, mostly these days.
The first question I ask is, ‘Where?’ Honestly. ‘Where is the shoot?’ If it’s Bulgaria, I can’t go. ‘Sorry.’ I’ve got two step kids and my own daughter and a husband and we’re lighting the yard and we’re getting chickens. It’s a big life. So I don’t want to lose too much of it or leave it for too long. So in that way I’m choosy. And if it were going to be in Bulgaria, I’d have a lot of explaining to do and it better be a damn good movie.”
Any Regrets About Growing Up in the Entertainment Business? “That comes up and then it goes away, kind of like a cloud, you know? The sun’s always shining though. It’s just a question of if I start to look at it and get analytical I could say, ‘Oh, I didn’t go to summer camp,’ and various things like that. But I’m an adult a lot longer than I’m a kid and I’ve gotten to keep my childhood alive a lot longer than most adults. Do you know what I mean? Especially in my line of work, my level of maturity.
I don’t know. It’s an inevitable thing to notice, that there’s a level of self-consciousness that most kids get to postpone as long as possible, which, when you’re performing, you don’t."
PAGE 2: Diane Lane on Marriage and Her Career
