Cameron Diaz Says Having Kids Gave Her a 'Different Perspective' on Being an Actor: 'A Lot More Happening in My World'

Cameron Diaz's world shifted when she became a mother.

The actress, 52, spoke with E! News ahead of the premiere of her new Netflix movie Back in Action and shared that after she became a mom, her priorities and perspective changed. Diaz and her husband Benji Madden, 45, share daughter Raddix, 5, and son Cardinal, whom they welcomed in 2024.

"You're a different person after you have children, after marriage, after building a life," Diaz explained. "So me, I never made a movie before with family. So all of the boxes change that need to be checked off, having taken 10 years and live a life that I wasn't when I was an actor."

"There's a lot more happening in my world that allows me [to have] a different perspective on life."

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Related: Cameron Diaz Says She Was 'Trying to Stay Alive Like Every Other Mother' During Her Decade-Long Acting Hiatus

Earlier this month, Diaz shared in a behind-the-scenes interview with Netflix that she didn't think she'd return to acting until a call from her costar Jamie Foxx made her reconsider.

"How do you say 'No' to Jamie Foxx?" Diaz began. "If there's anyone I'm going to go back and spend months on end on set having a ball and laughing with, it would be Jamie."

During her hiatus, Diaz said "no to everything," including any training or public appearances. Instead, she prioritized two things: her family and her wine company, Avaline.

"That was what I was putting most of my focus on," Diaz explained. "If I was doing anything other than just sort of being a mom and living my day-to-day."

"That was pretty much it," she continued. "I'm just trying to stay alive just like every other mother. I'm just trying to keep it going."

She also added that she hopes her new role will one day make her own kids think that she's "cool."

"One of those little fantasies that all parents have is that their kids could see them as they existed before they had all of the weight of the world of being a parent on them," she shared. "Children just can't see their parents that way."

"And maybe, just maybe, their kids will believe them when they say, 'Yeah, I was pretty cool," she said.

Back in Action is Diaz's first film since 2014's Annie, in which she also starred with Foxx. The two costars first appeared together in 1999's Any Given Sunday.

Diaz and Foxx's latest collaboration, Back in Action, is streaming now on Netflix.

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