Diane Lane says she was drawn to the challenge of playing an FBI cyber-crimes special agent in the R-rated Untraceable.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- In her new thriller, Untraceable, Diane Lane plays an FBI cyber-crimes agent battling a serial killer whose nasty murders, committed live on the Internet, are hastened as more people log on to watch.

In real life, the 43-year-old actress, mother of three and wife of Josh Brolin is a self-described "techno-phobe."

So you can imagine that with what she now knows about the Internet, it's hard for Lane to feel good about her kids going online.

"Well, being a parent is so fun these days because there's an alternate universe that kids feel is theirs, they're entitled to it and it's a great big world out there and they're going to inherit it anyway," said Lane, while promoting Untraceable, in theatres now. "So you hope that they make good choices. I'm just a tour guide."

Lane's roles since being nominated for an Oscar in 2003 for Unfaithful have included romantic comedies such as Under The Tuscan Sun and Must Love Dogs and the drama Hollywoodland.

But her Untraceable role, for which she shadowed a real-life FBI cyber-crimes agent in Portland, seems to be a major departure given the R-rated film's often- violent content.

"I love how uncomfortable everybody is because what that does is it tell me I made the right choice. I think comfort is kind of overrated and if I'm worth my salt in this business, it would be because of the diversity of roles I've been able to pull off, hopefully," Lane said. "Honestly, that's why I felt so challenged by the offer because it was kind of a dare and I knew that if I didn't do the film someone else would and I didn't want to chicken out. ... This is an R picture. I'm not in a ballet here. So this is the story, this is this movie, and it's not Must Love Dogs."

Lane isn't sure Untraceable qualifies as "torture-tainment,'' in the vein of such franchises as the Hostel or Saw movies.

"I think if anybody is doing that (torturing people for thrills) they deserve to be stopped by somebody as nice as me," she joked.

Still, she was "very shocked," by some of the actual things she saw online. "It validated my technophobia and I'm back happily in blissful ignorance."

Lane also claimed to not be freaked about carrying the failure or success of Untraceable on her shoulders. It debuted at a middling No. 5 last weekend.

"Good, bring it on!" said Lane before the movie's opening. "I mean, what can I say? If there were trepidation, then I guess I got over it because I did (the movie) and there it is.

"I don't even like to promote films but I have to because it's in the fine print of my contract. I just like to do the film and then (realize), 'Oh, it's coming out!' Some people track their movies. I just hide under a rock about it really. I don't want to know."

Whatever the longevity of Untraceable, Lane will be seen a lot in hit theatres this year.

First up is the sci-fi thriller Jumper, out Feb. 14, followed by Elmore Leonard's crime flick Kill Shot and a reteaming with her Unfaithful co-star Richard Gere in the romance Nights In Rodanthe, due in the fall.

"It was wonderful, I adore Richard," she said.

Separate careers help marriage work

Actors and spouses Diane Lane and Josh Brolin don't read each other scripts or give each other advice on whether they should do certain movies.

"Maybe we should, I don't know," Lane joked recently. "I think that's where angels fear to tread, to come between an artist and his art. I know some of the things that Josh is preparing to do and I just go, 'Wow!' "

The two have no plans to act opposite each other. "Honestly, I would rather have Josh direct me," Lane said.

The couple has been together for six years, and married for three and a half.

"That's a wow in Hollywood right?" Lane said jokingly of the length of their relationship.

Seriously though, Brolin is enjoying the best year of his career, with a role in the critically acclaimed and eight-time Oscar nominated No Country For Old Men. He also just got a Screen Actors Guild award for best ensemble in a movie.

In other words, Brolin is suddenly hot again.

"Twenty-four years in the making, I know a little about that," said Lane, referring to her celebrated debut as a teenager in 1979's A Little Romance and her own 2003 Oscar nomination for Unfaithful.

"Honestly, nothing changes," added Lane about Brolin's big year.

"The topic of conversation is probably a little more work oriented than before but it sure feels great having success and reward for your work."

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