Nights in Rodanthe marks the third time Diane Lane and Richard Gere have worked together on a film.

LOS ANGELES -- It wasn't quite love at first sight when Diane Lane met Richard Gere.

More than two decades ago, the stars of the romantic drama Nights in Rodanthe -- their third film together -- were introduced during the casting of 1984's The Cotton Club.

Recalls Lane, "I was very insecure and I think that manifested itself by coming off age-appropriate, let's say, for 18. I was just a little defensive and maybe ... " she turns to Gere, who is sitting next to her during a recent media conference, "... a little bitchy?"

Gere nods. "Yeah."

Lane continues, "It was a chemistry meeting. I mean, can you imagine, flying out with that in mind? There's no pressure or anything. I was like, 'Hi, I'm here, do you like me?' That's how I felt. So I was making all these jokes like they're trying to bring Cathy Moriarty's price down, that's why they have me in here. I was such a bitch."

Not that Gere didn't find Lane "an absolute doll" anyway. "She was adorable, watchable and there was something mysterious going on. But she was very self-possessed at the same time. She came in with all those qualities and being able to deal with this situation at 18. I mean, at 18 I couldn't deal with anything ... (And now) she's still 18 and I'm much older."

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook), Nights in Rodanthe casts Gere and Lane as emotionally-crippled divorcees who fall for each other during a chance encounter at a remote North Carolina inn.

Despite the pair's obvious rapport, it has been seven years since their previous film, the erotic thriller Unfaithful. It hasn't been for a lack of trying, though, he says. "I keep trying to find things I can't do with her because it's so obvious that we should be doing everything together."

Says Lane, "It's true Richard and I have this thing ... We can get right in there and trust each other ... You can get there by take two instead of take seven."

"But," he adds, "we're both picky (about projects)."

What distinguishes Nights in Rodanthe -- and tells you that it's no longer summer at the box office -- is that the movie is aimed squarely at adults. "I don't think this is a story for teenagers. There's not a lot in this for teenagers," he says. "It's about people who have been through a lot."

That said, just because they're not twenty-somethings doesn't mean they're platonic. "You know how in action movies, they save the stunt for the end in case something bad happens?" Lane, 43, asks. "That's what they did with the love scene with us - just in case one of us got hurt. 'Oh, my back!' "

The subject of age arises again when the 59-year-old Gere recalls a media conference he attended in Sarajevo a few years ago. "There was a very young girl in the back, very shy, and she raised her hand and said, 'On behalf of three generations, I'd like to thank you ... On behalf of myself, my mother and my grandmother.' I thought, how sweet. But it also gave me the sense that I'm real old. I've been doing this a long time."

Lane posits her own theory as to Gere's seemingly cross-generational sex appeal. "One thing I always felt about Richard on-screen or in person is that he has this ability to make you feel he can see right through you, to the core of you ... Women just feel basically disrobed and that's a plus ... On The Cotton Club, he'd tell me what colour my aura was ..."

"Hey..." Gere interjects at this aura-reading revelation.

"That's a good thing!" she tells him. "I didn't know that's the thing you're embarrassed about. With all the stories we have? I think that's adorable. He was right every time. I was defensive that day or whatever. You can't really pull the wool over Richard's eyes."

kevin.williamson@sunmedia.ca

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