Cameron Diaz explains Hollywood return after 10 years for ‘Back in Action’
Cameron Diaz is opening up about her ten-year hiatus from Hollywood and why she finally decided to return for Netflix’s action comedy Back in Action.
In an interview with Empire Magazine earlier this week, the former rom-com star said that she doesn’t view her return as a comeback and doesn’t want anyone else to label it either.
“I don’t know how I view it. It’s hard to say,” she said. “If I say it then it becomes this thing. I reserve the right to say no to doing a movie ever again, and I reserve the right to say yes if I decide to. I’m not defining anything.”
In the last decade, the actor and her husband Benji Madden, the lead guitar player for the band Good Charlotte, have had a daughter and a son, and Diaz hinted that she plans to prioritise them.
“I’m just open to whatever makes sense for me and my family at any given moment,” she explained, revealing that the one thing you won’t be seeing her doing is the thing that made her famous. “No more rom-coms,” she said. “Only mom-coms.”
Diaz shot to fame in the Farrelly brothers’ 1998 comedy There’s Something About Mary, playing the titular character who every man seems to be hopelessly in love with. She went on to star in romantic comedies like The Holiday, What Happens in Vegas, and What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which made her synonymous with the genre. She also played Fiona in the Shrek franchise and filled prominent roles in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York and the action comedy Charlie’s Angels.
Diaz’s final film before retreating from the spotlight was an adaptation of Annie. It was panned by critics, but it gave her an opportunity to reteam with her Any Given Sunday co-star Jamie Foxx. As it happens, Foxx is the only reason she accepted her latest role.
“I thought that if I was going to come back and do a movie, the only person I’d come back and do it with would be this guy,” she said. “Seriously. I had other opportunities along the way and I was always saying, ‘No. I’m not doing it, I’ve told you… What? Jamie asked? Jamie? Oh, I can do a movie with Jamie!’”
Diaz is also set to appear in Jonah Hill’s upcoming movie Outcome and return as the voice of Fiona in Shrek 5.
Back in Action lands on Netflix today.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.