There’s still something about Cameron
With Cameron Diaz coming out of retirement after eight years away, we celebrate the return of a unique comedy force
FOR THE BEST part of a decade, we have wandered a desert dry of Cameron Diaz’s wide, goofy grin. Last seen as a modern-day Miss Hannigan in 2014’s Annie, Diaz confirmed her retirement from acting in 2018, during an interview pegged to the anniversary of her comedy The Sweetest Thing. Even if you missed the announcement, it wasn’t long before you missed her presence.
But now she’s back. With the suitably named Netflix Original Back In Action, Diaz will make her triumphant return to comedy. The big news was announced on Twitter by the film’s co-lead Jamie Foxx, who fondly referred to his Any Given Sunday collaborator as “the GOAT”.
Though details of the project are light on the ground, it’s all but guaranteed that we’ll be treated to some trademark razzle-diazlle — that unique blend of charm and flailing limbs, with a character who is as likely to tie her shoelaces together as she is to kick some ass.
Because the truth is, Cameron Diaz never quite got the kudos she deserved. Since her formidable debut in The Mask, aged just 21, she has seemingly never said “no” in the name of comedy. Take There’s Something About Mary’s infamous hair-gel scene, where she plays it straight while sporting a wild, questionably coated quiff. Or her authentically excruciating, warbling karaoke rendition of Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’ in My Best Friend’s Wedding, which still manages to win the hearts of all who look on. She was joyously spiky in
Bad Teacher. Even as Princess Fiona in
Shrek she went toe-to-toe with two comedy stalwarts with a heartfelt, deftly funny voice performance. And yet at every turn, people underestimated her vibrant versatility and sheer comedic prowess. For shame! How did Netflix convince Cameron Diaz to come out of retirement? Money, sure. But let’s also hope they gave her a fat stack of flattery, too. Let’s hope the entire boardroom hung their heads and said, “Rotten Tomatoes is sickeningly wrong about Charlie’s Angels, one of the most unduly underappreciated masterpieces of our age.”
But let’s hope, above all, that Diaz’s return isn’t a one-off, but the beginning of a whole new era of her effortless, enthusiastic comedic delivery. A plethora of new comedy classics — and maybe even, if we’re really lucky, Charlie’s Angels 3 — could be on their way.