The movie Cameron Diaz refused to promote
When an actor signs up for a movie, they usually harness the hope that it’s going to turn out great, earning widespread acclaim and furthering their position in the industry. Sadly, in many cases, that just doesn’t happen. Box office stinkers and critical flops emerge just as frequently as highly praised movies, and actors are expected to take these in their stride – it’s just part of the job.
However, there are times when an actor will go to more extreme measures to distance themselves from a movie they’ve appeared in, which was certainly the case for Cameron Diaz back in 2013. The star, who rose to prominence in the 1990s after starring in a string of successful comedies, including My Best Friend’s Wedding, A Life Less Ordinary, and There’s Something About Mary, once found herself in desperate need of straying as far as she could from a movie.
While she didn’t go to the extreme of asking for her name to be removed from the credits of the film like some actors do, Diaz instead decided not to promote the film. Despite the fact it was helmed by the hugely popular filmmaker Ridley Scott and featured celebrated actors like Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, and Penélope Cruz, she was simply disappointed with how her performance turned out.
The Counselor featured Diaz as Malkina, the incredibly cunning and ruthless girlfriend of Bardem’s Reiner, but her performance as the antagonist reportedly left the studio feeling rather anxious. The problem was, the actor, who was born in California, decided to play her character with a full-blown Bajan accent.
Fearing the backlash that this could understandably generate, Fox asked Diaz to re-record all of her lines so that they could be dubbed, which she wasn’t best pleased with. Thus, Diaz had to do considerably more work, as well as being told that her initial attempt wasn’t suitable enough, resulting in her refusal to promote the film.
Diaz was absent from press tours and hardly did any interviews for the movie, suggesting that she wasn’t thrilled with the way the film’s production played out. This is sometimes the only way for actors to subtly highlight their dissatisfaction with a film, speaking volumes with their reluctance to promote it. In many instances, this has caused significant controversy, such as when Justin Baldoni was noticeably absent from the It Ends With Us press tour in 2024, fuelling rumours regarding his relationship with co-star Blake Lively and resulting in various lawsuits.
Luckily for Diaz, her resistance to promoting the film didn’t hinder her reputation, and The Counselor managed to gross $71million against its $25m budget. Viewers quickly turned their attention to a specific scene starring Diaz, however, in which she grinds on top of a car windshield while Bardem’s character sits inside. While some found the scene seductive, many others found it indicative of the whole movie: awkward and clunky.
The Counselor certainly isn’t one of Scott’s best projects, even if the screenplay was penned by the legendary writer Cormac McCarthy. In this instance, it seemed as though everyone involved gave far from their best efforts to the project.
