Biography for Cameron Diaz

Cameron Diaz

Date of Birth:
30 August 1972, San Diego, California, USA

Birth Name: Cameron Michelle Diaz

Nickname: Cami

Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)

Occupation: Fashion model (1988–1993)

Actress: (1993–present)

Biography:

Actress. Born August 30, 1972, in San Diego, California. The daughter of Emilio Diaz, a second-generation Cuban-American oil company foreman, and his wife Billie, who is of Native American, Italian, and German descent, Diaz began modeling when she was 16 years old. Her successful modeling career took her to Japan, Australia, Morocco, and Paris, among other locales, landed her in such magazines as Mademoiselle and Seventeen, and in advertising campaigns for such companies as Calvin Klein, Coca-Cola, and Levi's.

In 1994, Diaz won her first film role in the blockbuster action-comedy The Mask, starring rubber-faced comic Jim 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 film 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), costarring 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, costarring Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon, and written and directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly. In 1999, audiences saw two very different sides of Diazfirst, 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, costarring 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 costarred Glenn Close, Holly Hunter, and Calista Flockhartas 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.

Trade Mark:

Blonde hair and Blue eyes.
She is filmed dancing in almost every movie.


Trivia:

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars" in film history (#13). [1995]
Chosen by People Magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful" people in the world. [1998]
Has a reputation for being late.
Was set to play Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat (1995) but broke her wrist prior to filming and was replaced by Bridgette Wilson.
Got alcohol poisoning in Australia at age 18.
Very superstitious.
Cameron's father Emilio Diaz appeared in her movie There's Something About Mary (1998) as a "Jailbird.".
She graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic (Poly) High School (Class of 1990) in Long Beach, California. As a member of that school's "Polyettes" dance-drill team, Cameron performed during half-time at football games.
Police caught an airline security guard at Los Angeles International Airport stealing items from Diaz. Diaz reported her passport and a large sum of cash missing. [December 1999]
Ex-fiancée of Jared Leto.
Auditioned for the film Waking the Dead (2000) but lost the role to Jennifer Connelly.
Cameron's parents allowed the then-16-year old to spend five years traveling the world to pursue her modeling career beginning in Japan, where she was accompanied only by a 15-year-old fellow model.
Was discovered by a photographer at a Hollywood party who, within a week, helped her land a contract with the Elite Modeling Agency.
Lived with video producer Carlos De La Torre for five years.
Her father is Cuban. Her mother is Anglo with partial Cherokee ancestry.
Will only wash her face in Evian spring water.
Became only the second actress to join the coveted $20 Million Club (after Julia Roberts), when she signed for that amount to do Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) in January 2002.
Named by People Magazine as one of the the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world. [2002]
Has an older sister, Chimene; they also have a brother.
Her mother, Billie, is of German, English and Native American descent.
Voted the 11th "Sexiest Female Movie Star" in the Australian Empire Magazine. [September 2002]
Measurements: 34B-23-36 (on set of The Mask (1994)) (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).
30 August 2003 - Broke her nose in a surfing accident in Hawaii on her birthday.
Photographer John Rutter was ordered to stand trial for attempted extortion, attempted grand theft, perjury, and forgery after trying to blackmail her with topless shots he had of her from a 1992 shoot. [20 November 2003]
Voted as #8 on the "Top 100 Sexiest Women" in FHM [DK]. [2004]
Ranked #3 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women in the World." [2002]
During her interview on "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994), said that she doesn't read scripts and wishes movies were filmed from start to finish because sometimes she doesn't understand them.
Her name is mentioned in the lyric of Brian Wilson's 1998 song "South America".
Best friends with Drew Barrymore since Charlie's Angels (2000). Both Drew and Cameron are huge fans of the rock group Ratt.
Lived with Matt Dillon for some years in the 1990s.
Named #11 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2005 list

Personal Quotes:

There were times when I'd go, 'This outfit would look so badass with stilettos.' You wanted those 4-inch heels, those wrappy, strappy, show-off-your pedicure shoes, but you couldn't do it. At the beginning of the scene it would have been fine because I'm just hanging out with the dude. But the next thing you know, you're kicking the dude's rear, so you had to make sure you had the right shoes on.

I didn't realize it [The Mask (1994)] was a fairly large film that I was a part of. Halfway through I was going, 'Is there any place that my mom and dad can see this film?' and they're going, 'Cameron, at the theatres.' I had no idea. Durrrrrrr. I'm blonde. I'm allowed.

One thing I realized from Julia [Roberts, My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) co-star] - which I knew before, but was made very clear - is that when you're the star of the film, the crew looks to you to set the tone of everyday work. So when you come into work, whatever it is that you're giving off, that is what the tone is going to be for the working conditions.

On Being John Malkovich (1999): "It's been said that in Hollywood there are only 14 different scripts. Well, this is number 15."

Your regrets aren't what you did, but what you didn't do. So I take every opportunity.

Salary:
What Happens in Vegas (2008) $10,000,000
In Her Shoes (2005) $15,000,000
Shrek 2 (2004) $10,000,000
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) $20,000,000
Gangs of New York (2002) $17,500,000
The Sweetest Thing (2002) $15,000,000
Vanilla Sky (2001) $10,000,000
Shrek (2001) $3,000,000
Charlie's Angels (2000) $12,000,000
Any Given Sunday (1999) $500,000
There's Something About Mary (199 $2,000,000.