Cameron Diaz has come out of retirement to star in Netflix’s Back In Action alongside Jamie Foxx. The action-comedy film marks the actress’ first role since her portrayal of Miss Colleen Hannigan in the 2014 Annie remake. Diaz announced her retirement in 2018. Diaz and Foxx previously worked together on Annie and Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday in 1999.
Foxx confirmed the news on Twitter, sharing an audio recording of a phone call the actors shared. To assist with Diaz’s “un-retirement” Fox brought in Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (whose football retirement lasted a mere 40 days). During the call, Brady offers Diaz some tips, noting that he’s “relatively successful at un-retiring.” Brady is not mentioned as having any part in the upcoming film.
Diaz also took to social media, via Instagram, sharing the news through her stories, writing, “Jamie Foxx, only you could get me back in action!!! I can’t frickin wait it’s gonna be a blast!”
Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) is directing Back In Action. He and Neighbors screenwriter Brendan O’Brien penned the script. Foxx is executive producing alongside O’Brien, Datari Turner, and Mark McNair. Producers are Beau Bauman for Good One Productions and Seth Gordon for Exhibit A. Plot details are currently unknown, but production is scheduled to start this year.
Cameron Diaz’s 20-Year Career
.jpeg?q=50&fit=crop&w=750&dpr=1.5)
Before making her film debut in 1994 starring alongside Jim Carrey in The Mask, Diaz worked as a model. In 1999, she starred in Spike Jonze’s directorial debut Being John Malkovich. The film and Diaz received critical praise and she earned Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Her acting career, which spans two decades, includes the films My Best Friend’s Wedding, There’s Something About Mary, The Sweetest Thing, Gangs of New York, Vanilla Sky, the Shrek animated franchise, and the Charlie’s Angels films, among many others. Diaz has also written two health books: New York Times bestseller The Body Book (co-written by Sandra Bullock) and The Longevity Book.
Just last year, the actress appeared on Kevin Hart’s talk show, Hart to Heart, and discussed her decision to leave the acting world, saying:
“When you do something at a really high level for a long period of time, when you’re the person that’s sort of delivering on this one thing, everything around, all parts of you that isn’t that, has to sort of be handed off to other people. Just, the management of me as a human being… Cameron Diaz is a machine. But for my personal, spiritual self, I was realizing that one part of me that functioned at a high level wasn’t enough.”
Prior to announcing her retirement, the actress appeared on Annie, Sex Tape, and The Other Woman in 2014. It remains unclear whether she will make a return to acting post Back in Action.
