Background

Ethnicity: Cameron Diaz's father was from a Cuban immigrant family (of Spanish origin). Her mother has English, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry.

Cameron Diaz was born on August 30, 1972, in San Diego, California, the United States, to Emilio Luis Diaz, a field gauger at an oil company, and Billie Joann, an import-export agent in San Diego, California. She has an elder sister, Chimene. They grew up in the city of Long Beach in Southern California.

Education

Diaz graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School (Class of 1990) in Long Beach, California. Her performing streak started in high school, where she was a member of the Polyettes, the dance-drill team that performed at sporting events. Later in life, this experience helped her on-set, where she was recognized as a natural athlete who had no problem picking up complex choreography quickly. She did not originally intend to model or act, but instead intended to study zoology.

Career

Diaz began modeling when she was 16 years old. Her successful modeling career took her to Japan, Australia, Morocco and Paris, among other locales, and landed her in such magazines as Mademoiselle and Seventeen as well as advertising campaigns for companies like Calvin Klein, Coca-Cola, and Levi's. At the age of 19, she first starred in the 30-minute soft adult movie titled She's No Angel before she made her appearance in Hollywood.

In 1994, Diaz won her first film role in the blockbuster action-comedy The Mask, starring rubber-faced comic Carrey. With no previous acting experience, she had originally auditioned for a supporting character in the film. Twelve callbacks later, however, she was hired to play torch-singing mob moll Tina Carlyle, the female lead. After the success of The Mask, Diaz was touted as the next big thing in Hollywood and wooed by a number of prominent filmmakers to appear in their projects.

While training to star in the live-action movie version of the popular martial-arts video game Mortal Kombat, Diaz sustained a wrist injury, which caused her to back out of the film. Instead, she made a string of smaller, independent films, including The Last Supper (1995); Feeling Minnesota (1996), costarring Keanu Reeves, She's the One (1996), co-starring Ed Burns and Jennifer Aniston, and Head Above Water (1996), costarring Harvey Keitel. She made a successful return to mainstream movies in 1997, winning raves for her portrayal of a sweet bride-to-be opposite Julia Roberts in the playful comedy hit My Best Friend's Wedding.

After starring opposite Ewan McGregor in the uneven romantic comedy A Life Less Ordinary (1997), Diaz made the leap to A-list Hollywood stardom with her savvy comic turn in the unapologetically crude surprise summer blockbuster There's Something About Mary. It was ranked 27th in the American Film Institute's list of 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies. It was also the highest-grossing film of 1998 and earned $369 million worldwide.

In 1999, audiences saw two very different sides of Diaz. First, she camouflaged her blond beauty to play a dowdy pet-shop worker and puppeteer's wife in the much-talked-about existential comedy Being John Malkovich, directed by Spike Jonze and costarring John Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Malkovich. Later that year, she turned in a brazen performance as the glamorous, hard-nosed new owner of a professional football team in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, co-starring Al Pacino and Dennis Quaid.

Despite her undeniable box office appeal, Diaz continued to appear in relatively low-budget independent film - including the black comedy Very Bad Things (1998), Malkovich, and the ensemble film Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000), which aired on Showtime cable television in 2001 and co-starred Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, and Calista Flockhart - as well as more mainstream projects. In the fall of 2000, she starred alongside Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as one of the three female detectives at the heart of the hit big-screen remake of Aaron Spelling's campy 1970s television show, Charlie's Angels.

In early 2001, Diaz appeared as a free-spirited older sister in The Invisible Circus. Diaz's next project was the 2001 animated film Shrek. The film, different from anything Diaz had done before, was an unlikely fairytale that was praised by critics and audiences alike. Besides garnering many rave reviews from critics, Diaz was honored by the Girl Scouts for her portrayal of Princess Fiona.

That same year she starred in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, co-starring Tom Cruise. Then in 2002, she was featured in the romantic comedy The Sweetest Thing as well as Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The following year she joined Liu and Barrymore for the sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. And in 2005, she starred in the film In Her Shoes with Toni Colette, with the story based on the 2002 Jennifer Wiener novel of the same name.

After rom-com The Holiday (2006) and the raunchy What Happens in Vegas (2008), Diaz showed her more serious side in the 2009 family drama My Sister's Keeper. She played a mother of three who finds herself at odds with her youngest child Anna (Abigail Breslin) over her middle child's medical needs. The film is based on the best-selling novel by Jodi Picoult.

Diaz's next two film projects were action oriented - the comedic Knight and Day (2010), again co-starring Tom Cruise, and the comic book adaptation The Green Hornet (2011), in which she plays the resourceful secretary of the masked hero (Seth Rogen). More comedies followed, with Diaz having the lead role in 2011's Bad Teacher and being featured as part of the cast of 2012's What To Expect When You're Expecting and Gambit.

Diaz returned to serious fare in the foreboding drama/thriller The Counselor, directed by Ridley Scott, before heading back to humor in 2014: She co-starred in the box office hit The Other Woman as well as Sex Tape, with the latter co-starring Jason Segel. The holiday season saw the actress starring as Ms. Hannigan in a remake of the musical Annie, with Quvenzhané Wallis in the lead role.

Spending more than 27 years in the industry and tired of traveling for the movies, Diaz decided to take a sabbatical in 2017 and rather invest her money and time in her start-ups namely Seed Health and Modern Acupuncture, companies based on health and bio-tech. She has co-authored a number of books too based mostly on health, fitness, and mental well-being.

Achievements

• 

  Diaz has received many awards and nominations for work throughout her career, including Golden Globe nominations for Being John Malkovich and Gangs of New York and the New York Film Critics Best Lead Actress Award for There’s Something About Mary. She also received the 2,386th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 22, 2009. Despite being semi-retired, Diaz is still the 5th highest-grossing actress in Hollywood, after Scarlett Johansson, Zoe Saldana, Cate Blanchett, and Emma Watson.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Longevity Book: The Science of Aging, the Biology of Strength, and the Privilege of Time

    (New York Times bestseller Cameron Diaz follows up her #1 ...)

    2016
  • The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body

    (Cameron Diaz shares her formula for becoming happier, hea...)

    2013

• movie

  • Shrek

    (Winner of the first Academy Award for Best Animated Featu...)

    2001
  • Charlie's Angels

    (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu are Charlie's ...)

    2000
  • What to Expect When You're Expecting

    (Inspired by the perennial bestseller, What to Expect When...)

    2012
  • The Last Supper

    (A biting black comedy, The Last Supper details the lives ...)

    1995
  • The Holiday

    (From writer/director Nancy Meyers comes a romantic comedy...)

    2006
  • The Mask

    (He's-s-smokin'! Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz star in this ...)

    1994
  • My Sister's Keeper

    (Sara and Brian are living an idyllic life with their chil...)

    2009
  • The Box

    (An average suburban couple is presented with a box contai...)

    2009
  • A Life Less Ordinary

    (Disgruntled "divine interveners" foster a romance between...)

    1997
  • The Other Woman

    (When three women (Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Kate Upt...)

    2014
  • Bad Teacher

    (A foul-mouthed seventh-grade teacher who is dumped by her...)

    2011
  • Very Bad Things

    (A Las Vegas bachelor party goes horribly wrong, and five ...)

    1998
  • Sex Tape

    (Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz star in this fun and racy co...)

    2014
  • My Best Friend's Wedding

    (When a woman's long-time friend reveals he's engaged, she...)

    1997
  • There's Something About Mary

    (Thirteen years after literally zipping his chances with h...)

    1998
  • Vanilla Sky

    (Rich Manhattan womanizer survives car crash with best fri...)

    2001
  • Gangs Of New York

    (In 19th century Manhattan, a young Irish immigrant (Leona...)

    2002
  • Being John Malkovich

    (A man takes a job in a strange office building where he s...)

    1999
  • Shrek 2

    (Lovable ogre Shrek has his marriage to a princess come un...)

    2004
  • She's The One

    (Edward Burns directed and stars in this comedy about two ...)

    1996
  • Keys to Tulsa

    (Richter Boudreau, the son of local celebrity Cynthia, is ...)

    1997
  • Shrek the Third

    (Get ready for Thirds - the greatest fairytale never told ...)

    2007
  • Annie

    (Quvenzhané Wallis stars as Annie, a happy foster kid who'...)

    2014
  • Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

    (Sexy Angels (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu) ...)

    2003
  • The Sweetest Thing

    (A girl finds she is forced to educate herself on the etiq...)

    2002
  • Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her

    (Set in Los Angeles, tells five loosely related stories ab...)

    2000
  • Feeling Minnesota

    (Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz star in this comic, romanti...)

    1996
  • Shrek Forever After

    (The further adventures of the giant green ogre, Shrek, li...)

    2010
  • Any Given Sunday

    (Four years ago, the Miami Sharks were on top. Now the tea...)

    1999

Religion

Cameron Diaz has no particular religion and considers herself a multireligious person. She stated: "Definitely; I don’t belong to any one religion. All religions have something beautiful to offer. They’re all saying the same thing with just different stories and different characters. Everybody wants to know: Where do we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going? All religions address those issues. I think for me, my connection to a higher being, my God, is one of the most important aspects of my being."

Politics

Diaz has always been politically outspoken, supporting Democrats and causes associated with liberal ideology. In 2000, Diaz wore a t-shirt in support of Democrat Al Gore’s presidential campaign. She also wrote a lengthy editorial outlining her positions against Republicans, expressing concern over environmental issues, women’s rights, and education. Diaz was also a huge supporter of Barack Obama.

Views

Diaz took part in America: A Tribute to Heroes charity telethon for victims of 9/11. Diaz participated at Live Earth in New York on July 7, 2007, by introducing Bon Jovi and The Police. She is also a member of the Pangea Day advisory board, an organization dedicated to creating a worldwide network of concerned citizens who are making a difference and believe that film can change the world. She is also known for her environmental activism. She took part in the MTV show Trippin‘, which highlighted endangered natural habitats worldwide and advised how to conserve them. In 2009, she drove around the United States in her hybrid car on a campaign with Marie Claire magazine; during the trip, she asked people where their water came from in order to promote the responsible use of natural resources. Cameron is also involved with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Quotations: "What we women need to do, instead of worrying about what we don't have, is just love what we do have."

"As women in today's society, we are encouraged to compare ourselves to other women when what we need to do is focus on our own strengths, our own capabilities, our own beauty."

"I don't believe you should make fun of anyone but yourself."

Personality

Around Hollywood circles, Diaz is known for being very superstitious and also for being late. Although she has made a career in movies and performing, Diaz prefers to stay off social media. She isn’t interested in sharing every detail of her life and has called social media a "crazy-ass experiment on society."

Diaz is dedicated to her practice of Transcendental Meditation, a meditation technique that involves repeating a personal mantra to oneself with eyes closed for 15-20 minutes. Diaz claims the tool allows her to go "to the deepest part" of herself to enable "recharging" and empowerment.

Diaz is inspired by fellow actress Helen Mirren. She has described Mirren as "drop-dead sexy" and a great example of a woman who is "taking care of herself."

Interests

• surfing, knitting, esotericism

• Politicians

  Al Gore, Barack Obama

• Writers

  Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned by Lena Dunham, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity by David LynchMissing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser

• Artists

  Helen Mirren

• Sport & Clubs

  Snowboarding, surfing

• Music & Bands

  Ratt, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne

Connections

Diaz's five-year relationship with video producer Carlos de La Torre ended in 1995. She dated her There's Something About Mary costar Matt Dillon from 1996 to 1998, and Diaz later became involved with actor Jared Leto in 1999. The couple broke up in 2003, and she started dating singer Justin Timberlake. Diaz and Timberlake dated for several years before calling it quits in 2007. She has also been linked to Yankee's third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Diaz began dating Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden in May 2014 and was engaged to the rocker that December. In a whirlwind move, the pair tied the knot on January 5, 2015, at Diaz' Beverly Hills home. Barrymore and Nicole Richie were two of her bridesmaids, along with her sister Chimene Cain and assistant Jesse Lutz. The pair welcomed daughter, Raddix, in 2019.

Father:

Emilio Luis Diaz

Diaz’s father, Emilio Diaz, had a small cameo role in her movie There’s Something About Mary as Jailbird.

Mother:

Billie Diaz

Spouse:

Benji Madden

The Madden Brothers’ guitarist and lead vocalist, Benji Madden met Cameron for the first time via fashion designer, and actress Nicole Richie in May 2014 and started dating her. He is about 7 years her junior. Cameron and Benji got engaged in December 2014. She married Benji on January 5, 2015, at her home in Beverly Hills, California.

Sister:

Chimene Diaz

ex-boyfriend:

Matt Dillon

In 1995, Diaz began a relationship with actor Matt Dillon. The relationship ended in December 1998.

ex-boyfriend:

Jared Leto

Diaz began dating actor and member of Thirty Seconds to Mars Jared Leto in 1999, and the couple became engaged in 2000. In 2003, they ended their four-year relationship.

ex-boyfriend:

Justin Timberlake

Cameron started dating actor and singer Justin Timberlake in 2003. They met at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in April 2003. They dated for almost 4 years before breaking up in 2007.

ex-boyfriend:

Alex Rodriguez

Diaz was in a romantic relationship with New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez from July 2010 to September 2011.

sister-in-law:

Nicole Richie

ex-boyfriend:

Carlos De La Torre

Friend:

Jessica Alba

Friend:

Demi Moore

References

• Cameron Diaz on Instagram