Cameron Diaz opens up on return to Hollywood and dealing with ‘inappropriate’ behaviour after shock retirement

CAMERON DIAZ shocked Hollywood a decennary agone erstwhile she retired from ­acting to commencement a household and “reclaim” her life.

The actress, past 42, had grown bushed of the spotlight and had yet met her Mr Right successful stone prima Benji Madden aft respective high-profile relationships.

Now, aft 2 children and years of rumoured movie returns, Cameron stars successful the aptly titled Back In Action — which has breached streaming records.

In the Netflix action-comedy film, she plays a erstwhile CIA spy alongside Jamie Foxx arsenic the brace person to face their concealed past aft their aliases are exposed.

It had the biggest movie debut connected the level since 2022, with a reported 46.8million views connected its opening weekend.

Cameron is said to person agreed to sprout the movie providing she would not beryllium connected acceptable for longer than 10 hours a day, truthful that she could get location to her hubby and their girl ­Raddix, five, and ten-month-old lad Cardinal.

She is reported to person been paid £35million to come retired of retirement and marque 2 movies for the streaming giant.

The histrion has described her ­acting hiatus arsenic “the champion 10 years” of her beingness but, present that she is back, she notes however overmuch safer the manufacture feels since the #MeToo movement exposed rampant intersexual abuse.

Cameron revealed: “The manufacture is truthful different. I mean, I decidedly person to accidental that MeToo changed everything. You locomotion connected to the acceptable and it is different. There was ever conscionable similar that 1 guy, you know, connected set, that you were like, ‘God, present helium comes again’.

‘Security and safety’

“There was ever layers and layers of inappropriateness that you conscionable benignant of had to enactment up with.”

For Back In Action, Cameron was approached by quality resources anterior to filming to sermon due behaviour, and provided with an “anonymous hotline” for formed and unit to study immoderate issues.

She added: “I was like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing’. The level of information and information you consciousness arsenic a pistillate present connected acceptable is great. I had ne'er felt that earlier this film.”

Cameron’s debut acting relation was successful The Mask, starring a then-relatively chartless Jim Carrey, successful 1994. But she has revealed she astir missed retired connected the life-changing part.

When she auditioned for the film, she was a exemplary with nary acting experience.

Producers wanted to formed the now-deceased Playboy pin-up Anna Nicole Smith successful the relation of glamorous nightclub vocalist Tina Carlyle.

Speaking connected the Skip Intro podcast, Cameron said: “They wanted Anna Nicole Smith. That was who they wanted, due to the fact that she had a name. Why wouldn’t they privation her? She was similar a immense star.”

But Nicole was reportedly told to crook down the relation by her agent, leaving it unfastened to Cameron.

The comic superhero ­comedy was a captious and commercialized ­success, winning an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and established Cameron arsenic a starring lady.

She said: “It was chaotic due to the fact that erstwhile I did The Mask, I didn’t person an agent. I was with my ­modelling agency, Elite, and I didn’t cognize what acting would beryllium for me.

“I virtually conscionable went connected a casting telephone due to the fact that I was a bully exemplary who ever went connected each my ­castings.”

Cameron went connected to prima successful smash-hit romcoms My Best Friend’s Wedding, There’s Something About Mary and festive favourite The Holiday.

She kicked butt successful the Charlie’s Angels movies with Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore and took connected a grittier relation successful Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York with Leonardo DiCaprio. But contempt her exemplary looks and immense success, Cameron’s romanticist beingness astatine the clip was a roller-coaster.

She dated her There’s Something About Mary co-star Matt Dillon from 1996 to 1998 and had a four-year ­relationship with vocalist Justin ­Timberlake until 2007, though determination were rumours helium cheated connected her.

Cameron besides had a one-year romance with ex-New York ­Yankees baseball prima Alex Rodriguez successful 2010.

But it was lone erstwhile she was introduced to Good Charlotte guitarist Benji, 45, done their communal person Nicole Richie — the girl of psyche fable Lionel — that she believed she had recovered The One.

On their relationship, she said: “It’s the champion happening that ever happened to me. I was older than him truthful the information that I hadn’t recovered him before, you cognize what I mean?

"I was retired determination a batch longer than helium was. But we’ve grown truthful overmuch unneurotic implicit the past decennary unneurotic and we’ve ­accomplished truthful overmuch — and I don’t cognize however we would person done that without 1 another.”

Cameron’s last movie earlier her status was a 2014 adaptation of the philharmonic Annie, which was panned ­critically.

In the aforesaid year, she released bestseller The Body Book, sharing her look for becoming happier, healthier and stronger.

But, privately, she had go disillusioned with Hollywood and the nationalist cognition of her.

Speaking astir that period, ­Cameron said radical would often ask: “My God, are you OK? You’re turning 40. You’re an actress. What does that mean to you?’

“I was like, ‘What is ageing? Tell me, please’.” It prompted Cameron to instrumentality her interruption from acting and absorption connected her idiosyncratic life.

She joined Benji astatine their ­Beverly Hills mansion successful 2015, launched integrated wine scope Avaline, and released The Longevity Book, examining the science of increasing older.

Her eventual instrumentality to Hollywood was successful portion down to Benji.

Cameron explained: “My hubby is truthful astonishing and helium said, ‘I conscionable deliberation it’s clip for america to backmost you. Like, Let Mummy shine.

“Let america beryllium your support, and fto you bash what you do, and fto america beryllium determination for you’.

“That was a large encouragement. I was like, ‘All right, let’s bash it’.”

Netflix bosses besides assured ­Cameron that she would not person to enactment longer than 10 hours a day.

She revealed she told producers: “What’s the docket going to be? Because Mum can’t enactment 12 hr days immoderate more.

“I’m not going to walk 12 hours connected a acceptable immoderate more.”

Another immense gully to Back In Action was co-star and pal Jamie Foxx, who she had worked with connected Any Given Sunday and Annie.

‘Second nature’

But the movie seemed ill-fated erstwhile Jamie was rushed to infirmary successful Chicago aft suffering a stroke successful April 2023.

Thankfully, helium made a afloat ­recovery, but past accumulation was again delayed by the Hollywood writers’ onslaught implicit pay, which ran from May to September 2023.

Speaking connected the Artist Friendly podcast with her brother-in-law Joel Madden, Cameron said: “It’s weird erstwhile you marque a movie and person to hold 2 years for it to travel out. We conscionable had, you know, unfortunate circumstances.

“We had to halt filming astatine the end. Like we got 2 weeks abbreviated due to the fact that Jamie had a stroke, which was crazy.

“And, you know, convey God he’s OK, which is truly incredible.

“He miraculously recovered and is amended than ever.

“But past the onslaught happened. There was a writers’ onslaught and actors’ strike.

“And truthful the full twelvemonth was taken up erstwhile we couldn’t film.”

Back In Action has spent the 2 weeks since its merchandise astatine fig 1 successful the streaming charts — a feat lone a fistful of different films person achieved.

Cameron feels similar she has ne'er been distant from acting.

She said: “It’s conscionable the silliest metaphor. It’s similar riding a bike. It truly is. It’s similar erstwhile you spell backmost to thing that you’ve conscionable done — there’s truthful overmuch of it that you don’t person to deliberation about.

“I was like, ‘Oh man, I cognize however to deed my mark.

“I cognize what questions to inquire the cameraman’.

“Being connected the acceptable was 2nd quality to me.”