For the first time in over a decade, Cameron Diaz has returned to the world of acting. Her new film, ironically titled Back In Action, released on the 2025 movie schedule in January and was met with much fanfare from Netflix subscription holders and more. Before that, the last time she'd appeared in a film was for the 2014 remake of Annie. In that time, Hollywood has seen some widespread changes, specifically in regard to on-set conduct, and she recently spoke to that subject.
It was not the fan-favorite actress’ idea to come out of retirement but, after some convincing from former Annie co-star Jamie Foxx, she stepped back onto a movie set for the first time in nearly a decade. What she found was a completely different set environment than the one she left. When asked about the differences working in Hollywood since she retired, by Krista Smith of the Skip Intro podcast, Diaz immediately pinpointed the reason behind the changes:
Well, the industry is so different. I mean, I definitely have to say that the MeToo movement changed everything. I mean, it’s palpable. You walk on to the set, and it is different. It wasn’t just the higher ups, you know what I mean? 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] as women, we do.
Cameron Diaz got her start in Hollywood when she was 21 and cast in a lead role in 1994's The Mask opposite Jim Carrey, with no prior acting experience. From that moment on, she was a Hollywood darling, exploding onto the scene in classics like My Best Friend’s Wedding and There’s Something About Mary. Clearly though, being a young actress in the ‘90s and early 2000s was not easy, as stars like her have discussed the misogyny and predatory behavior that went unchecked on sets at that time.
The allegations against imprisoned film producer Harvey Weinstein are essentially what sparked the Me Too movement in 2018. While the Holiday actress herself has not made any claims against Weinstein, the content of the accusations did occur amid the height of Cameron Diaz’s acting career. While Diaz was only ever in one Miramax film produced by Weinstein (Gangs of New York), that doesn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t subjected any kind of harmful environment during her career as she alluded to during her recent interview.
In recent years, though, production companies have implemented preventative measures and sweeping changes to create a new set standard. That's a filming environment that the actress says she has not experienced until now:
It has changed, it’s not the same. And look, I have never in my entire career had HR come in prior to a movie and talk about what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior, and a hotline, which Netflix has, to call anonymously, to report any issues that you might be feeling. So I was like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ The level of safety and security you feel as a woman now on set, I’d never felt that before this film.
In her 10-year retirement period, other big events helped forever changed Hollywood, namely the Writers’ Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023, during which creatives fought for better pay and safeguards against AI. These issues were largely a product of the streaming revolution, another phenomena that took over the film industry during the Vanilla Sky actress’ hiatus.
Even with all this new territory, Diaz has jumped right back in, despite a lot of personal life changes as well. For the first time while working in Hollywood, the What Happens In Vegas actress is a mother and a wife, something she was initially hesitant about balancing with a career. You wouldn’t be able to tell though–she’s still got the confidence and acting chops that made her famous 30 years ago.
She's already field questions about possibly joining The Mask and Charlie's Angels sequels. (If we get a follow-up for the latter franchise, with the original cast, I’ll be able to die happy.) In the meantime, though, I'm just glad to see Cameron Diaz back on the old grind and being able to do so in an industry that's evolved for the better. So don’t miss what is sure to be the start of a Diaz resurgence by streaming Back In Action on Netflix now!
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