Cameron Diaz Recounts “One Guy On Set’s Levels Of Inappropriateness,” Pre-MeToo​on February 8, 2025 at 11:23 am

Cameron Diaz has shared how different she finds working on movie production sets, after a decade away from the screen.

In an interview on the SkipIntro podcast, Diaz shared: “The industry is so different. I mean, I definitely have to say that MeToo changed everything. You walk on to the set and it is different. There was always just like that one guy, you know, on set, that you were like, ‘God, here he comes again’.

“There was always layers and layers of inappropriateness that you just kind of had to put up with.”

Diaz has been away from the screen for 10 years, concentrating on family life, but was persuaded to come out of retirement to make a pair of films for streamer Netflix, her first one being action-comedy Back in Action, co-starring Jamie Foxx.

Diaz said she was approached by human resources prior to filming to discuss appropriate behaviour, and provided with an “anonymous hotline” for cast and crew to report any issues.

She said: “I was like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing’. The level of security and safety you feel as a woman now on set is great. I had never felt that before this film.”

Cameron’s debut acting role came in 1994’s The Mask, co-starring fellow up comer Jim Carrey. She became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, in movies including There’s Something About Mary, My Best Friend’s Wedding, the Charlie’s Angels big-screen reboot, and the festive favourite The Holiday.

She also shared that she almost didn’t get her career breakthrough in The Mask, due to producers wanting Anna Nicole Smith, the late model who at the time was a much bigger name. Only when Smith turned down the role did it come to Diaz.