Pivoting the backbone to acting, as she has done so successfully, I wonder if she ever felt overwhelmed by preconceptions about her modeling career? Did she have to fight to be taken seriously?

“You know, I didn’t feel like that. I mean, maybe behind my back people said something like that, ”she said with a shrug. “It took me many years to pay my dues, which in a way is right, to learn the craft and try to be better with every picture.”

If modeling was the springboard outside of Germany and the first act of the adventure in Diane’s life, the second decisive moment involved a kind of homecoming, when she directed In the Fade.

At this point, she was an established Hollywood star, celebrated not only for her acting resume but also for her red carpet appearances, often alongside her beau Dawson’s Creek, actor Joshua Jackson. But something else was calling him.

She aspired to make a German language film and sued In the Fade director Fatih Akin, asking her to consider her. “In a way that changed my life a bit.

Obviously for my career, but also as a human being. Diane prepared for the role by meeting people who had lost loved ones, including children, to murder. “It was the first time that I had really witnessed real grief. And it became a movie where I realized that it wasn’t really about me and my performance, but showing homage and respect to people who go through something like that, ”she says.

It was also a time of loss in Diane’s life. She suffered two devastating bereavements when her 25-year-old grandmother and stepfather passed away. His ten-year relationship with Jackson also ended around this time. “It was just as if kismet, in a way, came together around that time,” says Diane.

“I haven’t worked for a good six months after this movie.” Supporting her grief-stricken mother has become a priority. “It was a bit of a reset in my life. I feel like it brought me closer to my family… and then met someone who will ultimately be the father of my child, ”she says. “Life – one door closes and another window opens. “