You Need A Little Magic In Life
The Australian Women's Weekly|Christmas 2018

She’s been acting since she was seven years old, but Diane Lane had a very different dream. The Hollywood star tells Juliet Rieden about her wild childhood, missing her mum and playing a baddie in the new season of House of Cards.

Juliet Rieden
You Need A Little Magic In Life

Diane Lane is giggling. She’s just remembered a particular night she spent at the White House a few years back. Barack Obama was still President and Diane was one of the guests at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. This is the glittering fundraising bash where journalists mix with politicians, senators and specially invited celebrities, and the President gives a usually pretty funny speech.

“When the cast members from House of Cards arrived it was like royalty had walked in, because these people [the polticos] are so in love with themselves and they think that all the plot points are really about them,” Diane explains, still laughing. “It was the penultimate one in the Obama administration and a good time was had by all. It made the Oscars feel like a puppet show.”

Diane was super excited to meet Barack and Michelle, but she sensed something else was going on for the other guests. “For these people [working in the White House], the actors are not playing characters; this is real life. They’re really invested.”

The fact that most of the key characters in the show are self-serving, ruthless and duplicitous at best and mendacious and murderous at worst, didn’t seem to bother this political clique, but it’s an irony not lost on Diane. “They were just excited to have a show about them. It may be dark but they can’t turn away,” she says.

Hop forward a few years and Diane is now one of that hallowed cast. “I never had any imagination that I would ever be asked to be part of that show at that time,” she adds.

The 53-year-old star of stage and screen was hurriedly hired, along with Hollywood’s Greg Kinnear, as part of the revamp of series six of the hit Netflix drama when Kevin Spacey was sacked following allegations of sexual misconduct last year.

Esta historia es de la edición Christmas 2018 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición Christmas 2018 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYVer todo
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 minutos  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 minutos  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 minutos  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 minutos  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 minutos  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 minutos  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 minutos  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 minutos  |
July 2024