Gymnast or vet might both have been possible careers but Diana hadn't yet found anything that truly captured her imagination. Although both her sister and step sister were already set on the path to becoming professional ballet dancers, performing was the last thing she considered.

Like any intelligent teenager, Diana was unhappy with the political situation in her country of birth and felt stifled by its censorship and blind parochialism. As soon as she completed school, she came to London where she worked as a trainee designer for a soft furnishings company.

Life was not particularly easy for a seventeen year old in a strange city but it helped to give her a much needed focus and direction. Soon afterwards Diana returned to South Africa where she enrolled at Cape Town University on degree course which included professional training as an actor.

After graduating, she worked briefly in South Africa before meeting a young Englishman. They were married and she moved permanently to live in England.

Starting a new career in an already over-crowded and highly competitive profession was a challenge. During this time Diana gained much useful experience working in repertory and in London fringe theatres. She also made several television appearances, most notably in the television drama series "Poirot" and "Bergerac", which gained her some recognition as a screen performer.

Then came a chance meeting with a young director named Stephen Daldry. They worked together initially on a production of "Of Mice & Men" in Manchester. Later Diana also appeared in his production of and "Figaro gets Divorced" at the Gate Theatre in London.

Christopher Hampton was in the audience of "Figaro" and it was partly due to his recommendation that Diana took over the role of the Marquise de Merteuil in the highly successful London production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". Further stage successes followed with "Madame De Sade" and "The Stick Wife" while on television Diana played the bored and sexually dissatisfied wife of a rich businessman in the drama series "Seaforth".

Meanwhile Stephen Daldry, now considered one of Britain's hottest young directors, had been offered the chance to produce a play at the National Theatre. His unlikely choice was the old theatrical chestnut by JB Priestly "An Inspector Calls" which he had previously produced at the Theatre Royal in York with Diana in the role of Sheila Birling, the spoiled daughter of an affluent northern family.

Daldry chose Diana and one other actor from the original cast to appear in his new version and the play opened to ecstatic notices before embarking on a national tour. At about this time Diana auditioned, together with a unknown seventeen year old actress called Kate Winslett, to play the parts of mother and daughter in a film by a New Zealand film-maker, Peter Jackson.

Accepting the role in "Heavenly Creatures" was an incredibly difficult choice since "An Inspector Calls" was still riding high on its glory and Daldry didn't want her to leave. Eventually the quality of the script decided Diana; a decision that was vindicated when the film was critically acclaimed and become a cult hit.

Since then Diana has gone on to appear in many roles on the stage, on television and on film. Some of these have been highly successful, some less so, but it's typical of her to choose parts for the challenge they represent to her as an actor. Notable amongst her successes was her performance as the alcoholic wife of a Tory MP in the satirical tv play "Crossing the Floor"; a production which won an Emmy in 1996.

In 1999 Diana joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for a season, acting in two modern plays - "Roberto Zucco" and "Talk of the City". In 2000, she played opposite Dennis Hopper in a television version of "Jason & The Argonauts" , appeared in a tv adaptation of "Nicholas Nickleby" and in an independent dutch film, "Morlang". In 2001 she returned to the RSC for another season; appearing in a resoration comedy "Love In A Wood" and a new play bt David Edgar called "The Prisoner's Dilemma".