“She did not have other qualities needed for the role.” Cameron Diaz's role in The Mask alongside Jim Carrey was originally going to go to another actress
Cameron Diaz might not have played Tina in The Mask? At first, another actress who later starred in Naked Gun was considered.
Along with Jim Carrey, the iconic character of The Mask is Cameron Diaz, who had the second leading role in the film. The actress scored a very successful debut with this production, moving from modeling to acting. Her performance was well received, and so much so that it's hard to imagine anyone could take her place.
Yet that role may have gone to another actress, who ended up starring not in The Mask, but in Naked Gun. According to Variety, casting director Fern Champion claimed that director Chuck Russell originally wanted to cast Anna Nicole Smith in the female lead role.
Russell, however, says that although he was curious about Smith in the role of Tina, he quickly abandoned the idea. After meeting her, he concluded that she was not the right person for the role.
We met. Anna was charming and bubbly but did not have other qualities needed for the role. I never took the next step to run scenes with her.
Fern Champion, on the other hand, was looking at top models to propose one of them for the role of Tina. Nothing came of it, so she ed a friend who owned a modeling agency to give her some suggestions. She was then told: “There is one gal.” That's how she ended up on the trail of Cameron Diaz.
She’s a great girl. There were no barriers up. There was a brain behind her. She was just wide-eyed and blue-eyed, saying, “Yeah, I want to act, Sure. What do I have to do?”
During casting, Diaz began acting lessons to prepare herself for new challenges. She became the strongest candidate, and after her first reading, the only option for the director.
[Diaz] was the only person for the part as far as I was concerned after her first reading. And then I saw the chemistry with her and Jim. Eight callbacks later, including improvs with Jim, I finally convinced producers.
Despite her lack of acting experience, as this was her first role, Cameron Diaz was given this opportunity and did not waste it. She showed that she was suitable for the job and together with Jim Carrey created a great duo with unforgettable chemistry in The Mask.
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