It wasn't until her role in "Unfaithful" that she was given the opportunity to prove herself as an actress, besides maybe her role in the high-profile 1984 dud, "The Cotton Club." Lane, however well she flourished in supporting roles, was in need of a strong leading role that could mount her commanding talent onscreen.

In the years prior to her recent breakthrough with "Unfaithful," Lane had minor roles in films like "The Perfect Storm," "Hardball," and "The Glass House," yet hadn't managed to have many leading roles besides 1999's overlooked "A Walk on the Moon." (Some still suggest Lane's was owed her first Academy Award nod for that particular performance.)

As Connie Sumner, an adulterous suburban housewife in "Unfaithful," Lane was given a well-earned Oscar nomination on top of various other award nominations and wins. I'm among those who found her performance absolutely riveting and thought it "made" the film. Nicole Kidman may have taken home the Oscar for Best Actress (beating out Lane), but there are many who argue that Lane gave the second best if not the best performance compared to Kidman.

There are so many moments of poignancy in her daring and revealing performance, but one that stands out in my (and probably most everyone's) memory of the film is one scene in which Lane is riding home on the subway, recalling her first sexual experience with her met-by-chance lover.

What made the scene classic was her seamless acting; facial expressions and body movement perfectly and rapidly going from joy, to pain, to guilt, to lust, and regret. The scene, taking place near the beginning of the film, was what set the tone for the rest of the film, giving Lane a commanding presence on screen for its entirety.

"Unfaithful" may have very well put her back near the A-List, arguably the first time in decades for the actress, but her newly re-discovered notoriety, what's to come? What does her career hold in its future?

The first project to put it all to the test is the film adaptation of the 1998 Laura Dawson novel "Under the Tuscan Sun," a European-set romantic dramedy. Lane portrays an author coping with both a recent divorce and a severe, creatively paralyzing case of writer's block; she's now seeking solace across the big pond. However, as fate would have it, her story is interrupted by unexpected things like romance and a bit of elbow grease, divulging in the pleasures of DIY upon purchasing an Italian villa to call her new home.

There are already rumors that Lane delivers another powerful (and perhaps Oscar-worthy?) performance in "Tuscan," even if the latter seems too grand of an assumption. Take into account that this film (marketed as light entertainment) plays on both dramatic ground and comedic. It's a difficult task for any actor or actress, however talented, to strike a good balance between the two dynamics. (The best of which, in recent memory, is Hugh Grant's Golden Globe nominated "About a Boy" performance.)

"Unfaithful," along with a good number of Lane's previous films, was very dramatic in nature, and sometimes shifted into darker undertones. I've read conflicting reports of what to expect from "Under the Tuscan Sun" in terms of comedy and drama; several sources have labeled it as a romantic comedy, while an equal number of other sources tell of darker material beneath light comedy, mainly in Lane's character.

Although she can't quite open a movie on her own name alone (yet), Diane Lane is close to having a shot at achieving such a feat. Her performance in "Unfaithful" undeniably overshadowed "higher billing" Richard Gere, and perhaps could have given her name an added boost on that account. No one can deny that she has the look of a movie star -- a beautiful, smart, and alluring appeal that most A-List actresses have or really should have.

What Lane has that many actresses do not is genuine talent -- that raw and rare gift of becoming her character, to breathe as her character does onscreen. On the set of "A Little Romance," Sir Lawrence Oliver was quoted as saying the-then thirteen-year-old girl as "A young Grace Kelly." That description certainly has held up over time.