Cameron Diaz: Bad Teacher, Great Actress

Cameron Diaz is back on the big screen starring as Elizabeth Hasley in her new movie Bad Teacher. She’s the actress we can’t help but love. She’s quirky, versatile and we’ve all envied her tall, slim figure and luscious blonde locks at some point. But here at FemaleFirst it’s her film roles that impress us, so we take a look back at her most impressive ones to date.

In 1997 Diaz played the part of Kimberly Wallace alongside Julie Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding. Kimberly is the giddy, and rather annoying, wife-to-be of Julianne Potter’s (Roberts) best friend, Michael O’Neal (Dermot Mulroney). What Kimberly doesn’t know is that Julianne is in love her soon-to-be husband and plans to steal him from her. This was arguably her big break into Hollywood and she gave an outstanding performance which won her the 1998 ALMA Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Crossover Role in a Feature Film and the 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Supporting Actress – Comedy.

There’s Something About Mary saw Diaz play her most memorable role to date when she was cast the lead role of Mary in 1998. Mary is the typical girl-next-door and is irresistible to men. The film see’s her co-stars Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon fighting for her affections which results in a funny, cheeky rom-com. Diaz won five awards in total, including the 1999 American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress In A Motion Picture (Lead Role), the 1999 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favourite Actress – Comedy, and the 1999 Teen Choice Award Most Disgusting Scene for that hair gel scene.

In 2000 we saw Diaz take on the role of sexy detective Natalie Cook in Charlie’s Angels. She starred alongside Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu in helping to take down criminals and fight crime with the help from their boss Charlie. The film sees Diaz kick some serious ass and differed from roles we had seen her in before, showing her versatility as an actress. This film saw Diaz win three awards including the 2001 MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence.

In 2001 Diaz was cast as the voice of Princess Fiona is the animated film Shrek. Diaz was instantly recognisable, and having the honour of working alongside Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers boosted her stardom to staggering heights. The film won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2002 at the Academy Awards as well as another 28 wins at various award shows. Diaz went on to star in next 3 Shrek films in her role as Princess Fiona.

Although the film didn’t gain much recognition, The Sweetest Thing (2002) saw Diaz in one of her funniest roles. She plays the role of Christina Walters, a young professional who has given up on men after being hurt by so many in the past. That all changes when she meets Peter Donahue and falls for his irresistible charm and dry humour. The film follows Christina and her best friend as they cross the country in search of Peter so that Christina can express her feelings for him. Full of hilarious one-liners, unfortunate situations and feel good moments, it captures perfectly the relationship between a girl and her best friends and is incredibly easy to relate to.

Diaz starred as Maggie in the 2005 film In Her Shoes. Maggie is a party girl whose loose morals cause her and her hardworking sister; Rose (Toni Collette) to fall out after Maggie sleeps with Rose’s boyfriend. The film portrayed perfectly the difficult situations that sister’s go through on the journey of life and how, in the end, nothing can come between a sister’s bond.

The Holiday (2006) saw Diaz play the hardworking movie trailer editor Amanda Woods. After discovering her boyfriend is cheating on her, Amanda suffers a broken heart so decides to take and break and house-swap with Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) who is also suffering from heartbreak. The film follows the pair as they find love on opposite sides of the Atlantic and face the struggle of long-term relationships. This is a perfect chick flick as it combines, romance, heartbreak and good humour. The film won the 2007 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Chick Flick.

My Sister’s Keeper hit the big screen in 2009 and saw Diaz play Sara Fitzgerald, the mother of a young girl suffering from Leukaemia (Kate). Sara’s youngest daughter Anna was conceived via in vitro to be a genetic match to her older sister Kate, in order for Kate to remain alive. Anna then sues her parents for medical emancipation and the rights to her own body. The film covers a range of emotions and also portrays the awkward stage of adolescence that every teenager goes through. The ending has an unexpected twist and sees Diaz question her pushy parenting skills. The film won three awards including the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Movie: Drama.

Bad Teacher will see Diaz play dysfunctional, foul-mouthed teacher Elizabeth Hasley who has just been dumped by her sugar daddy. Her main aim in the film is to win the teaching bonus to pay for a boob-job in order to impress for the new sub-teacher Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake). As well as Timberlake, Diaz stars alongside Jason Segel and Lucy Punch, and from what we’ve seen from the trailers, it looks to be a side-splitting edition to summer 2011 cinema.

Bad Teacher will be released in UK cinemas on 17^th June.

FemaleFirst Cara Mason