After 30 years together -- and three movies; 1978's The Cotton Club, 2002's Unfaithful, and this week's Nights In Rodanthe -- Diane Lane is comfortable enough with her leading man Richard Gere, to admit that she got on a flight to Indonesia recently, and believed it was somewhere near the Bahamas.

"Did you have a good time, once you got there?" asks Gere.

"Unforgettable," smiles Lane. "My friend and I had opposite intestinal reactions to the place."

Lane lets out a laugh. Perhaps they're getting shortsighted in their old age, and the acting buddies haven't noticed me sitting opposite them yet.

Both Gere and Lane sensibly play their age in their latest movie together, Nights In Rodanthe, charting the romance between a wife trying to decide if she should forgive her husband his infidelity and a doctor looking for redemption over both a case that went bad and his estranged son (played by an uncredited James Franco). All mature, mild-mannered stuff, and slightly dull.

When I caught up with Gere and Lane in Berlin last week, I decided it was best not to talk too much about the movie itself. Out of respect for my elders, and all that.

PAUL BYRNE: This is the third time you have shown us that special on-screen chemistry you have. Does it surprise you that the first time you were brought together, by director Francis Ford Coppola back in 1977, the spark wasn't there. . .

DIANE LANE: At this point, that just seems crazy. But yeah, we've been making up for that ever since.

RICHARD GERE: In movies an enormous amount of information has to be communicated, by just putting a camera on someone. It seems, the information you get from us, seems to fit.

Isn't a romantic drama, where the main protagonists are over 15, brave given that teenagers seem to rule the box-office?

DL: Absolutely [laughs].

RG: It's extremely brave. In fact, we had flak jackets on, for the entire shoot. That's how brave we were.

Your director, George C Wolfe, said it was important to stay true to what these two people are going through, and not to worry about what a 17-year old might think of it all. . .

RG: True, but there is a 17-year old in the movie, and it's dealing with teenage problems. James Franco was terrific in this.

It strikes me that, as much as you both care about the work, you seem to care more about life away from the cameras.

RG: No. This is a job. It's a really good job. . .

DL: Yeah. [Sings] "Nice work if you can get it"

RG: More than that, when the alarm clock goes off, and I think, who am I going to be spending this day with? I know it's with this beautiful chick and I feel good about the world.

DL: Ah, honey, thank you.

Richard, besides going Paddy for The Jackal back in '97, you have been known to make Van Morrison laugh -- just wanted to say, the good people of Ireland have never actually seen that phenomenon, so thank you.

RG: Pleasure.

DL: Is that true, or just a rumour? He laughed?

RG: I played with him several times, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had in my life.

DL: That sounds great.

And what does Van Morrison look like when he's smiling?

RG: He gets taller. He gets a lot taller.

Diane, you're far too sexy and cool and talented not to have some Irish blood

DL: I do have Irish blood ...

Right. Your mum, Colleen, was a singer, and, in the 1950s, a Playboy centrefold, which explains the looks

DL: God, and my mother ...

Did she ever sing a ballad to you about where her family comes from in Ireland?

DL: I've gone back. It's the sort of place you want to be buried together there forever. It's painfully romantic; I love it there.

Nights In Rodanthe is currently in cinemas

- Paul Byrne