There's Something about Cameron

Cameron Diaz is back in her first movie in over a decade, and it's good to see her again.

“Back in Action” is the title of the new movie starring Cameron Diaz, but it also fits an actor who retired from acting after 2014’s remake of Annie. It was surprising that Diaz would walk away from a successful career when she starred in the sleeper hit comedy Bad Teacher only a few years earlier. During a recent interview, Diaz explained that she retired from acting to focus on her personal life and family:

“Nobody’s opinion, nobody’s success, no one’s offer, no one’s anything could change my mind about my decision of taking care of myself and building the life that I really wanted to have,” Diaz added. “It really comes to: What are you passionate about? For me, it was to build my family.”

Audiences should understand that the life of an actor or crewmember consists largely of travel and time away from family. For an actor, you travel to some city where the tax breaks are best and spend four to six weeks living out of a suitcase in a nice hotel, and then you return home before going on to the next thing. While there is the option to try and stay in Los Angeles and perhaps film a TV show that offers greater stability, those 22-episode, year-long series are in shorter supply, and you’re still working 12-14 hour days on set. This is all to say that Diaz’s choice to build her family makes total sense, and I respect that she took a break from acting to do it.

But I’ll also say that Diaz always felt like a bit of an underrated talent despite being on the A-list for roughly twenty years. Diaz’s first movie was playing the female lead in the Jim Carrey hit comedy The Mask, and she then rapidly became a star thanks to a charming supporting turn in My Best Friend’s Wedding and her breakthrough as the title character in There’s Something About Mary. But this kind of framing placed Diaz as an object to be desired rather than a character with agency. She was clearly beautiful, but even in a movie alongside Julia Roberts, Diaz is framed as the desirable one where Roberts is trying to win her friend’s romantic affection.¹

Cameron Diaz attends the Back in Action photocall at Cheval Three Quays, on January 17, 2025 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by StillMoving.Net for Netflix)