Stranger (and scarier) than fiction

OK, I have to admit: The first thing I thought when I heard about this L.A. Times story is: "Gosh, this sounds like the plot for a new movie -- with maybe another kick-ass role for Diane Lane. But then I got past the headline -- "FBI database links long-haul truckers, serial killings" -- and actually read the story. And now... well, just say that I will think twice before stopping at a truck stop any time soon. And I damn sure will recommend to all my female friends and relations that they never stop at a truck stop. Seriously. Consider this money quote:

"Authorities said they do not have statistics on whether driving trucks ranks high on the list of occupations of known serial killers. But the pattern in roadside body dumps and other evidence has prompted many investigators to speculate that the mobility, lack of supervision and access to potential victims that come with the job make it a good cover for someone inclined to kill. 'You've got a mobile crime scene,' one investigator said. 'You can pick a girl up on the East Coast, kill her two states away and then dump her three states after that.'"

That loud clickety-clack noise you hear resounding throughout the Hollywood area today is the sound of scriptwriters spinning those facts into fiction...

Diane Lane

Diane Lane has been busily promoting Untraceable -- a surprisingly satisfying slice of meat-and-potatoes moviemaking -- and she graciously chatted with me a few days ago so I could do a Q&A for the Houston Chronicle. Here are some of the outtakes:

Q: Were you able to do much preparation to play FBI special agent Jennifer Marsh?

A: Some. During my research, and the time I spent with the Real McCoys over at the FBI, I was able to meet some of the working moms who are very impressive in their profession. I’m so grateful they chose their profession, seeing how much there is a need for cyber-law enforcement. It was daunting, for sure. But I will say that their sense of humor – well, I don’t think that America is ready for the sense of humor that is needed for that job. Because, really, you have to protect your heart while you’re witnessing such heartlessness in trying to be a crimestopper.

Q: Of course, if you’re an actor, there’s another aspect of the digital age to consider: Thanks to technological advances, every movie or TV show you’ve ever made is, for better or worse, permanently preserved.

A: That’s fine and well and good. I’m OK with that. It’s the isolation of images out of context that is irksome to me. Because that’s the difference between a complex, emotional story that involves sensuality and sexuality, and pornography. Once you change or shift or eliminate the context, what have you got? It’s just bumping uglies, you know what I mean?

Q: True enough. If you ever do scenes involving nudity or sensuality, as you have in Unfaithful and A Walk on the Moon – they’re bound to wind up on certain websites.

A: It’s really demoralizing. It actually kind of makes you give up hope about human nature after a certain point. You go, ‘I guess this is what we’re contending with. Are we just going to lie down and take it, or are we going to complain and enforce regulations or rules and penalties, and tracking and tracing?’ But, I mean, you have to be able to find the people who have these sites to begin the process of changing things. And when things are – quote, unquote – untraceable, what do you do then? To me, that’s scary in itself. Whatever it is you’re trying to effectuate, if you can’t locate accountability, you don’t have a starting place.