Diane Lane Dazzles in "Secretariat"

In a film career spanning more than three decades, Diane Lane has starred in such diverse films as "The Perfect Storm," "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Unfaithful." Now she's back on the big screen as a housewife who realizes the racehorse she owns will be the greatest there ever was in "Secretariat."

Lane discussed her powerful, new role in Disney's "Secretariat" with "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith.

Based on the remarkable true story, "Secretariat" chronicles the spectacular journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Lane plays housewife and mother, Penny Chenery, who agrees to take over her ailing father's Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. With the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin, played by John Malkovich, she manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years.

While Lane has played real people before, she had never played someone she's met.

"Spending time with the person you're representing on screen is -- it's surreal, for both parties," she said. "But, I have to admit that, first of all, Penny Chenery is a historic figure for a reason. She is a great lady. And I've come out of this with a friend. We never foresaw any of this. It's lovely."

"Secretariat" is an extraordinary story, Smith points out -- the Chenery family has a stable down in Virginia, the patriarch of the family falls ill, and she ends up having to carry the ball for the family.

"If Disney could have written this story, they would have. The fact that it is a true story is just off the charts and magical for everybody," Lane said. "I think that this has been trying to get to the screen for decades. And I'm grateful it took this long so I could be the one to stand next to and pretend to stand next to Secretariat in his glory."

While Lane says she's a horse person, she admits she doesn't know her horse jargon. But racehorse terminology aside, Lane said she was able to learn more about horses by interacting with several in the film.

"We had five to cover all the ground that was asked of these horses in the time we were filming, but there were two that I really spent nuzzle time with and it was great. I loved them," she said.

Secretariat wasn't just a winner; he was a symbol of strength.

The horse inspired Chenery to say to her family and to her husband, 'this is the work I was meant to do' -- during the early 1970s, a time when it wasn't common for women to step up to the plate.

"Well, as a mother, I think it served her to trust herself and her gut about what it takes to call forth the greatness of another family member," she explained. "And she was born into the horse-breeding industry and she grew up with that. And people wanted to forget, I think, and it was a really novel media way of packaging her to say, 'you're a housewife, you have no business being here.' Maybe her hair-do distracted everybody. Her hair was enough to, you know, to live up to that!"

Lane attributes the dedicated team of professionals who made sure that the set and costumes were authentic from that era.

"The costume designer who worked from just my character, Julie Weiss, she's amazing a stickler for authenticity," she said. Reminiscent of "the way Jackie Bouvier dressed before she became Jackie Kennedy, before she became Jackie O., before that transition for women happened."

With the contrast of having a conservative husband and children involved in a protest movement, the dynamic reflects a real-life American family in the early '70s.

To solve a dsipute, the mother would say: "Would anyone like some pie? That's how it was. You can't actually go down the path of arguing with your children about politics when the father is in the middle of it all. There is a skill set being the peacekeeper in the family while you acknowledge everybody's point of view," Lane explained.

The love for Secretariat, a truly phenomenal horse, Lane said, brings all the generations together.

"I think everybody stopped on its axis, just stopped spinning for a moment and everybody dropped their negativism and cynicism. This film, if anything is anti-cynical, it's a breath of fresh air," she said.