A little older, a lot wiser.(Rene Russo)

Hard times and family troubles haunted her. Then a man, a baby, and a movie changed her life. How Rene Russo fought back against past mistakes and getting older-to become one of Hollywood's hottest stars.

At a rustic Italian cafe near her home in Brentwood, California, Rene Russo heads for her regular table (secluded), orders her "usual" (pasta), then settles in for a long, casual lunch. Here, away from the Hollywood power crowd, Russo can dress in jeans and her favorite black clogs (mail-ordered from a chef's catalog), and trade gossip with the handsome waiters.

Her hair is red and cropped, a shorter version of the much-copied sultry, do she sported as the nerves-of-steel femme fatale in last year's Thomas Crown Affair. But offscreen, the look is softer, playfully tousled. Within minutes lunch feels more like a date with a girlfriend than an interview with a sassy top actress who has held her own against a raft of America's manliest movie men: Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, and Pierce Brosnan, to name a few.

It's impossible not to admire Russo. Not only because she is beautiful--although her chiseled cheekbones, endlessly long legs, and sparkling blue eyes are every bit as potent as they were when she landed her first Vogue cover almost 30 years ago. No, what's most compelling about Russo is how, at 46, she has finally hit her stride. How, after a long, bumpy road, she has found personal contentment and happiness with her husband and six-year-old daughter. And how her life has become an inspiring example for any woman worried about holding back the clock.

Russo is a rare creature among her Hollywood peers--not just because she doesn't lie about her age: She is one of the few fashion models ever to successfully make the leap to movie stardom. Even more astonishing is when her career took off: after she hit 40. At an age when most stars start to bemoan losing plum roles to younger players, Russo is just getting hot.

Beginning with what she considers her breakthrough film, Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), a heavy-duty hit that launched her friendship with Mel Gibson, Russo has been…