Cameron Diaz is back on our screens for the first time in more than a decade in the fittingly-titled Back in Action on Netflix.
While Diaz was once a staple of our screens and carved out an impressive career in rom-coms, action movies, serious roles and playing a certain green princess in the Shrek franchise, her comeback might have you wondering where she's been and why she left Hollywood behind for so long.
So to mark her much-awaited return, here's why Cameron Diaz retired and what brought her back for the Netflix movie.
What was Cameron Diaz's last movie?
Making her debut at the age of just 21 in 1994's The Mask, Cameron Diaz went on to land a supporting role in My Best Friend's Wedding and got her big break in the Farrelly Brothers' There's Something About Mary.
After the gross-out comedy landed Diaz her first Golden Globe nomination, she became one of the industry's most bankable stars.
Despite starring in more serious roles for the likes of Gangs of New York and Vanilla Sky, most associate her with her rom-com roles.
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From The Holiday to What Happens in Vegas, Diaz continued to play romantic interests from the start of her career until her 2014 retirement. Her final on-screen role was as Miss Hannigan in musical remake Annie in 2014.
Why did Cameron Diaz quit acting?
Although it was never official, Diaz referred to herself as 'retired' when talking to Entertainment Weekly alongside her Sweetest Thing co-stars Selma Blair and Christina Applegate in 2018.
Diaz expanded on the decision to retire while speaking to Kevin Hart's Hart to Heart in 2021.
The star said: "When you do something at a really high level for a long period of time, when you're the person that is delivering one thing, you're the person on the screen, all parts of you that isn't that has to sort of be handed off to other people."
Expressing the importance between Cameron Diaz the human being and Cameron Diaz the 'machine', she admitted difficulties about managing her home life, finances, and herself had pushed her toward semi-retirement.
In October 2024, Diaz explained her extended absence to Fortune's Powerful Woman Summit and added: "I had to reclaim my life... For me, it was just something I had to do. It felt like something I had to do to reclaim my own life. And I just really didn't care about anything else.
"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. It really comes to: What are you passionate about? For me, it was to build my family."
Why did Cameron Diaz come back for Back in Action?
We have Diaz's Back in Action co-star Jamie Foxx to thank for her return to our screens, 11 years after their last movie together.
"The reason why I did this movie – period – is because Jamie was doing the movie. That is 100% the reason," she explained in the production notes for her new movie.
Saying she wouldn't want to do it with anyone else, she admitted that before Foxx invited her to Back in Action, she had no intention of acting in another movie: "But when he came and said, 'Do this with me,' I said, 'OK, if I'm ever going to do another movie again, the one person I'd do it with – seriously, this is from my heart – is with Jamie Foxx.'"
Having previously worked with Foxx all the way back on Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday in 1999, the pair reunited on Annie and now, Back in Action.
Referring to her co-star as "genuine", Diaz added: "I know how much fun we have and how professional he is. I also knew that it was a safe space for me to come walking back into after a decade away. It just made it an easy yes."
Diaz hasn't spoken much about whether this is part of a bigger plan to return to Hollywood on a full-time basis, and although it's too early to talk about a Back in Action sequel, she's already filmed Jonah Hill's Outcome for Apple TV+ alongside Keanu Reeves.
There's another movie we know we'll see (well, hear) Diaz in. DreamWorks confirmed in July 2024 that she'd reprise her long-running role as Princess Fiona in the delayed Shrek 5 for its December 2026 release.
"I don't know how I view it. It's hard to say," she told Empire of whether she's back for good. "If I say it then it becomes this thing. I reserve the right to say no to doing a movie ever again, and I reserve the right to say yes if I decide to.
"I'm not defining anything. I'm just open to whatever makes sense for me and my family at any given moment."
She has defined one thing though, adding that it's now "no more rom-coms, only mom-coms".
Back in Action is available to watch now on Netflix.
Tom Chapman is a pop culture-loving writer and NCTJ-accredited Broadcast Journalist with over seven years of experience covering the small and silver screen.
Starting his career with a post at Movie Pilot in Berlin, Tom took on freelancing full-time with regular stints at Digital Spy, Screen Rant and Comic Book Resources.
These days, you can still find him covering all things Marvel and Star Wars at Digital Spy, while dipping his toe in bylines at Yahoo! and IGN.
Tom likes to think his spirit animal is a cross between Gale Weathers and Olenna Tyrell.
