Other television appearances include playing Raya in Dunia Tanpa Koma and a brief stint as the host of the television game show Kuis Super Milyarder 3 Milyar aired on ANTV, which is the spin-off second season in Indonesian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. as well as international movies such as the Malaysian production Puteri Gunung Ledang. Since then she has established herself as one of Indonesia's most bankable actresses, starring in films such as Banyu Biru, Ungu Violet and Belahan Jiwa.
She rose to greater prominence with her starring role as Cinta in the cult classic romance movie Ada Apa dengan Cinta?, which was a box office hit not only in Indonesia, but also in Malaysia a year later in January 2003. She starred in the role as Daya in Pasir Berbisik, which was a critical favorite and won her many awards. She began her modelling career in 1996 as the cover girl of Gadis, a popular teen magazine in Indonesia. She did her post-graduate degree at the School of Economics at the same institution, where she studied Finance Management as her major and earned a Master of Management degree. Dian furthered her studies at the University of Indonesia where she studied law briefly before moving to the Faculty of Literature, where she obtained her Bachelor's degree in Philosophy in July 2007. She attended Junior high school at the SMP Vincentius Otista Jakarta and high school at the SMA Tarakanita 1. Sastrowardoyo's family name is derived from sastra ( Sanskrit, "writings ") and wardaya ("heart ", hence both: "writings of the heart"). Her paternal great-grandfather, Sutejo Sastrowardoyo (1878–1967), traced the family's ancestry back to the 15th century Javanese. Sukanti Suryochondro, a former instructor in women's studies at the University of Indonesia and Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1924–1995), a noted poet and literary critic. She is also the grandniece of both Sunario, Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1953 to 1956 Dra. Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo, was a physician, surgeon, and author. Sastrowardoyo was born and raised as a Catholic christian. Dian Sastrowardoyo was born on 16 March 1982 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Ariawan Sastrowardoyo, an artist, and Dewi Parwati Sastrowardoyo (née Setyorini), a university lecturer.